


Another Chance

by Claireton



Category: The Wolf Among Us
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Profanity, Reader-Insert, Telltale Game Universe, badly written sex im so sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-17 17:17:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3537596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claireton/pseuds/Claireton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A semi(?)- alternate universe for the Wolf Among Us. All of the information found here will be entirely from the game( and maybe some wiki pages), so I might miss something or have the wrong idea of something that was more fully explained in the comics themselves. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey! Thanks for taking the time to read my fic! It's going to be kinda difficult for me to write this one because, compared to my first fic, I have little information to work with. I will try my best, but don't be surprised if you find yourself cringing and thinking '(x) wouldn't say/do that!' If you're here wondering what I put 'A New Perspective' on hold for, well, here it is!  
> In this fic, your character's fable / true form is a succubus. (If there is any fable anywhere that actually has a succubus in it, it does not exist in 3 pages of google searches, so your actual origin will have to be phased out. Sorry! Not off to a great start, huh?)

The door quietly swung shut behind the both of you. No sooner had it clicked into place did he begin unbuttoning his shirt and smiling arrogantly at you.

"So.. you ready for the best night of your life?" he sneered cockily. It would really pleasure you to just rip that mouth off of his face, and do the public a kindness, but, you had to endure long enough to fulfill your job, so your forced a smile upon your face.

"Sure thing, honey." you cooed, moving up to him and tracing your fingers over his abdomen. Not quite the "Hard as rock" muscles you were told of, but then that was to be expected. These types of guys always said anything they could to try lure in women to play with.

"Let me just throw on something more... appealing." you whispered, winking at him and strutting towards his bathroom. As the door closed behind you, you could hear his shirt crumple to the floor before the jangling of his belt buckle began. You smirked to yourself. He was entirely caught in your hook now, easy prey.

You locked the door, and moved to the mirror, staring confidently at it. A young woman stared back at you, with her (h/c) hair up in an elegant bun, and her low black, low cut dress ruffled and messy with the night's previous events. It was time to get to business. You focused inwards and closed your eyes, tilting your head back. That familiar feeling returned. The intense, but pleasurable burning that quickly spread throughout your entire body before dissipating to a nothingness once again. When your eyes reopened, you stared back into the mirror, where another form faced you. Your true form. You lifted your hands to your hair, undoing the bun you had it in, and letting it cascade down your shoulders. As you plumped it up, your hands ran over the small dark horns that now protruded from your forehead, and you tentatively tapped a finger on the left one, which was half removed and left as a stub. A light punishment for questioning your work once, as a younger woman. While you were feeling at it, you took notice of the tattoo around your left wrist, a plain old chain. You didn't really care for tattoos, but it was  a mandatory part of the job.

You stood back and stretched out your back, adjusting to the weight of your wings. You couldn't actually use them, or move them at all really. They were more for looks than anything. Mid stretch, you heard that ear grating voice call out to you again.

"Yo babe, you ready yet? You don't hurry, you just might miss your chance." he called out nonchalantly.

You sighed angrily before forcing another smile onto your face.

"I'm ready for you baby.." you moaned, letting the door swing open, and leaning yourself against the door frame, staring him dead in the eyes. "But are you ready for me?"

Momentary surprise flashed on his features before it settled back into that cocky grin.

"A little role play, huh? Yeah, I can do that babe."

He slinked through a doorway, and you heard the creaking of springs as his body collapsed onto his bed.

"Don't keep me waiting." he warned, waiting impatiently for you to come and service him.

You unlatched and slid out of your high heels, letting them fall to the ground carelessly as you moved towards the bedroom. Once there, you began working on your dress, slowly sliding out of it as he stared hungrily at you.

You climbed onto the bed, and he grabbed your arm, intending to take control, but that wasn't how it was going to go. It didn't work that way, and you preferred to be the one in control anyway. You seized his arm roughly, and forced it down to the side of his head, straddling him and doing the same with his other arm. He clearly wasn't used to this, and resisted uncomfortably for a moment, but eventually he let himself go limp, ready to take whatever you had to offer.

You leaned down and held your face close to his, listening to his breath hitching, becoming more laboured and excited. He desperately tried to maneuver his member into your womanhood, but each time you moved yourself away. Early in your line of work, you decided that you didn't need to allow them entry at all. It was possible to get the job done without it.

"Come on babe..." he pleaded, a thin layer of sweat glistening his forehead. "You're killin' me here." Oh, the irony.

You smiled, moving your mouth close to his ear and whispering "Honey, you haven't seen anything yet.."

You walked your fingers down his chest, playfully poking around his privates before slipping your fingers around his erection. You slowly began stroking it up and down, laughing quietly as his breathing became more and more strained.

After another few moments of stroking, with some satisfying pleading, his back arched harshly, and an apprehensive moan escaped his lips.

"Fuck.. ba-.. I'm gonna.." he breathed.

At this moment the tattoo on your wrist came to life. It slowly shifted from black to a red, and shifted around your wrist, spinning, coiling, glowing. His cries of pleasure gradually became ones of anguish, as his body stiffened and jerked in a series of violent motions. You sat back and stared coolly at him, glad to be finally done dealing with such a waste of space.

After much flailing , the cries stopped and changed to hacking coughs, and his body relaxed while his eyes slowly faded to orbs of pure whiteness. With a final sigh, his life left him, an impossibly bright ball slowly rising out of his mouth, illuminating the entire room. It stopped rising when it met your eye level, and remained still as a blackness began to accumulate on its surface. Once it was fully covered, the room returned to darkness, and the ball slowly began to shrivel until there was nothing left.

You sighed, crawling off of the bed, trying your best not to look back at the corpse on the bed. You were getting tired of this. This time, it didn't feel so bad because of the guy's personality, but you had done the same thing to so many innocent people who deserved better. But it was you or them. That was the terms of the contract.

Every Succubus was presented with a contract from the Elders on the night of their turning 18. They gave you a choice, but those who refused always seemed to end up dying in tragic circumstances.

Under the contract, every Succubus was forced to take at least 1 soul every month by luring men to have sex with them, and extracting the soul at the point of orgasm. Luring the victims wasn't difficult. The Succubi had naturally attractive bodies, and were born with the ability to shift at will between a 'Regular' human appearance, and their natural forms. What  _was_ difficult, however, was building up a mental barrier to block out the regret that came with taking so many people's lives. There were some, usually the relatives of the Elders, who happily accepted their work, and even found joy in it, but many Succubi just wanted to live regular lives. But once you made the contract, you had to follow it. Nobody but the Elders knew what happened if you went longer than a month without taking a soul, because nobody ever lived to tell the tale. Some of the the most popular rumours were that your bones would slowly wither until the slightest breeze would shatter them, or that your blood and skin would start to get hotter and hotter until all that was left of you was a pile of charred bones, if even. Because of the dire consequences, most Succubi just silently obeyed their orders.

You slid back into the dress, and after fixing it up, you started for the foyer, but you stopped when you felt something clutch onto your ankle. You whipped your head around, panic rising, and looked down to see the man's corpse grasping your ankle tightly. The lower half of his body remained up on the mattress, like he had fallen off and clutched you for balance. His head lay with his nose pressed into the ground, and he was as motionless as he had been moments ago.

You bent down cautiously, locking your fingers into his and trying to pry them open. They wouldn't budge, and you couldn't help notice that the skin was getting colder by the second. After another few seconds of pulling, your fingers began to burn with the cold, but the rising panic and adrenaline allowed you to ignore the pain and keep trying.

Finally, two of the fingers gave in, snapping off of the frozen flesh and skidding across across the floor. It wasn't the result you expected, but at this point, anything that would get you free was worth it. You were too panicked to care about mutilating a body. You began tugging at the next two, and at this point, you could feel your ankle going numb.

The ring finger began to crack at the base, but before you could get it off completely, the corpse's head snapped up, howling and staring at you with those snow white eyes. The sound was guttural and feral, entirely inhuman. It resonated deep within your body, and sent your brain into a frenzy, causing you cry out and fall back onto the ground. You clawed desperately at the floor, trying to drag yourself away, but those ice cold hands latched onto your torso as the corpse pulled itself on top of you. Survival instincts took over your body, and you started doing anything you could to escape this thing's grip. You dug your fingers into its eye sockets, causing ice cold blood to splash on your body, but still it did not stop its assault. Eventually, the creature made its way to your neck, and stabbed its teeth into your throat, turning your screams of fear into raspy gurgles as your throat filled with blood.

\---

You awoke in a sweat, shooting upright and scanning the room wildly. Once you realise what had happened, you brought your breathing back into control and fell back onto your pillow, sighing exasperatedly. It wasn't your first nightmare, but each time they seemed to get more and more intense, and they were always associated with your old life, which made it so much harder to forget it.

Ever since you arrived in Fabletown, you had been trying to lead a normal life. Not because you had to, but because you really wanted to. You were sick of the killing, the lying, and the fear of living under that god-damned contract. Inexplicably, the moment you had escaped the Homelands, the contract had been dissolved, and the magic dispelled entirely, not that you were complaining. It was difficult settling into the life of a mundie, though. You had to train yourself to stop sizing up men and deciding which one would be the easiest to lure in, and constantly remind yourself that you were free. You were leading your own life now, and nobody was going to take away your freedom again. Not if you could do anything about it.

You threw the bed covers off of you and stepped out of bed, stretching out before heading towards your wardrobe and flinging open the doors. You pulled out a plain buttoned white shirt and some jeans with a belt, not aiming for a particularly fancy look. You felt grateful to have the power to wear something casual, and not be forced to wear whatever men found the most attractive at the time.

You moved to the bathroom, hanging your clothes on the hook on the back of the door and letting your nightwear fall to the ground. You hung a few towels on the wall before stepping into the shower. One of the perks of being a Succubus was that you were naturally capable of shifting between your preferred human form and your true form, so you saved tons of money on Glamour, and were able to afford to live in the luxurious Woodlands apartments as a result. As well as the large living space, living in the Woodlands meant more security than most of Fabletown, and a quick way to the authorities, in the case of an emergency.

You switched on the shower, and turned the temperature up, tilting your head up groaning with pleasure while it washed away the sweat that formed during your nightmare. Your hair dampened and clung to your face, but you were too deep in pleasure to care. You began to clean the rest of your body, stopping to stare at the wrist that used to hold the tattoo. You had formed a habit of checking it randomly, fearing that the tattoo would be there one of the times you checked, telling you that your contract had resumed. Once again, the skin remained blank.

You finished cleaning yourself up and switched off the shower, shivering as you stepped back into the freezing air. You took a glance in the mirror as you dried yourself off, surveying your human body. Over the years, you had come to quite like it, and it felt more natural than your Succubus form. For one thing, it was much less sexualized, so you could feel like a normal person instead of a walking sex symbol.

You finished by drying off your hair and brushing it meticulously, making sure it was perfectly smooth before pulling it back into a simple ponytail. After you picked up the towels from the floor and threw them into the wash basket, you moved to the sink, brushing your teeth. Fortunately, your human form came with a pearly set of perfectly formed teeth, much to your happiness. Once you finished brushing your teeth, you adjusted the belt of your jeans and went over today's plans in your head.

First, you wanted to visit Nod's Books and pick up some more of those human romance novels. They were quite interesting, and they gave you that invaluable insight on how real relationships work, where one isn't trying to kill the other. After that, you needed to head down to the Web 'n' Muffet to pick up some groceries. You hadn't been there in a week and you were surviving off of crackers and cheese at the moment. After you brought the shopping back, you would have to leave for work. This whole week had you on night shifts at the salon, so you'd have to organize yourself around going to bed in the morning and waking in the afternoon.

You left the bathroom and came to the front door, taking your (f/c) jacket off of the coat hanger and slipping it on, leaving it unzipped. You bent down and took a pair of low heeled ankle boots from the shelf, stepping into them and fixing the ends of your jeans over them. Your back gave a protesting creak when you straightened and you winced, rubbing it. You must have moved around more in your sleep than you thought. Twisting side to side to try stretch it out, you took your key from the hook on the wall and opened the front door, hoping your back wouldn't cause you too much pain throughout the day.

You closed the door behind you and locked it, replaying this morning in your head to make sure you didn't forget anything. You finally decided that you had done everything and turned from the door to see Beauty and Beast walking down the hall.

"Hello, (firstname)." greeted Beauty, giving you a small smile. You liked Beauty, she always seemed able to look past people's flaws and history to recognize who they were trying to be. It was no wonder that her and Beast had the longest lasting relationship of anyone you knew. Beast merely gave a small wave. Most of the men who knew who you used to be acted cautiously in your presence, as if you were going to leap on them and start stealing their soul at any moment. It was annoying, but you understood their weariness and let it slide.

"Morning, Beauty." you responded, giving her a warm smile and hooking your right hand on your left elbow.

"Are you not on shift today?" she questioned. Beauty often came down to the salon where you worked, though you hardly understood why, she couldn't get any more beautiful than she already was.

"Nah, I am. I'm just taking the night shifts this week." you answered. Beauty nodded and opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off by Beast.

"Look, i-I'm sorry (firstname), but me and Beauty've gotta talk about some things." he said suddenly. Beauty sighed and looked at you apologetically.

"I'm sorry, (firstname), but he's right. We can catch up later, okay?" she offered as they both continued walking down the hall.

You sighed inwardly but plastered a smile onto your face. People always seemed to have something else to do whenever it came to talking with you.

"Hey, don't worry about it." you called after them, waving nonchalantly. They turned the corner at the end of the hallway and you let your face drop to indifference again, moving to the elevator and pressing the button.

You tried to guess what Beauty and Beast needed to discuss so badly. Beast seemed pretty urgent about it. Hopefully they weren't in any trouble. After a moment you shook it off your mind. Whatever it was, it was none of your business.

The doors pulled open to reveal an empty elevator, and you stepped inside. You pressed the button for the ground floor and leaned against the wall, sighing frustratedly when nothing happened for a few moments.

"This fucking elevator!" you grunted, giving the floor a hearty stomp. The elevator often malfunctioned, and you couldn't remember the last time you had seen some repairmen at it, despite constant complaints by Woodland residents. Just as you stepped towards the doors to take the stairs instead, they slid closed, earning another frustrated sigh from you.

Today was going to be one of those days.


	2. Chapter 2

The elevator finally came to a slow stop, and you tapped your foot impatiently for the doors to open.  Once they finally opened you quickly stepped out, not wanting to be in there for any longer than completely necessary.

 You walked across the lobby hastily, not wanting to waste any time. You had to be in work on time today. Another slip up and you could get fired. Your hand reached for the handle of the front door when someone clad in heavy clothing barged through it, thumping off your shoulder but continuing on without a word.

'Asshole.' you thought, glaring at the back of their head before brushing it off and walking outside again. You heard conversation to your right, and turned your head to see a pair of men talking to one each other. One of them faced completely away from you, but the one you could see didn't seem familiar at all. You knew most of the Fables that lived here and you had never seen him in your life. Surely he wasn't a mundy? It was a pretty tight knit rule to keep mundies as far from the Woodlands as possible. Even those who cared little for the law respected that rule.

The man you could see wore a sly smile on his face, almost like he was winning a negotiation with his partner. You kept staring and trying to recognize him until his gaze shifted to you. He motioned to you and his partner's head turned slightly, as if they were listening to you rather than looking. Still they remained too turned to see their face, but their conversation died down entirely as they kept staring.

You cleared your throat awkwardly and skipped down the steps, hands in your coat pockets. Once you reached the large gates, the murmuring continued. Going through your to do list in your head, you remembered that the first place you wanted to visit was Nod's Books. It was right across the street, so you jogged across after checking for cars. Right as you reached the door, the owner Mr. Floyd stepped out and shut the door behind him, locking it. Dismay hit you heavy. You were dying to get your hands on the sequel of the last book you had purchased.

"Hey Mr.Floyd, what's up? Closing early today?" you questioned.

"Yup." he answered curtly, giving the door a few tugs to make sure it was shut. "Beauty hadda leave early, and I got other things to do."

That didn't really seem like a reasonable excuse for losing out on business, but you didn't want to press the issue so you just rolled your eyes.

"Alright, well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." you offered, receiving a short 'hmph' in response.

You turned and headed towards the corner of the street, where the Web 'n' Muffet store was. When you placed your hand on the front door, you gave a cursory glance to your wrist, finding it blank again. You entered and went through your business.

After picking up some of the basics, you came down to the aisle that held all of the alcohol, deciding to treat yourself to some wine as compensation for missing out on your book. You moved to the middle of the aisle where your favorite bottle was usually kept, and scanned the shelves. You were about to give up when you spotted one last bottle in the very back. You lowered your bags to the floor and reached in to grab it, recoiling in surprise when your hand met another. You straightened back up to see Jack Horner staring back at you with an expression that was probably meant to be seductive.

"Sorry, toots." he said, pulling the bottle to him and staring you in the eyes. "Last bottle's mine."

He shifted closer to you and leaned in slightly, looking down at you.

"But I'd be happy to share some with one such as yourself..." he whispered, moving his free hand towards your waist.

Infuriated by his attitude, you took a crushing grip of the hand, causing him to hiss in pain. He tried to pull it back but you pulled him closer.

"The only way we're sharing that bottle is if I shove it down your throat and drink it from your stomach." you growled. It may have been a tad overkill, but you just weren't in the mood for his bullshit today.

"Is everything okay here?" came a voice from behind you. You turned to see Mrs. Muffet, one of the store's owners, standing behind you with a raised eyebrow. You quickly let go of Jack, who winced while flexing his hand.

"Yeah, everything's hunky dory." he answered. "(Firstname) here was just turning my bones to dust."

You scoffed indignantly. Typical Jack to blame someone else. Mrs. Muffet continued before you had the chance to defend yourself.

"So I see. Well, Ms. (Lastname). Please refrain from harming another customer again, or I'll need to get the authorities on the matter."

"What?!" you cried. "That's bullshit! Jack _Horny_ here was hitting on me!"

"Hey now!" Jack retorted teasingly. "There's no need for cursing, (firstname). This is a civil environment."

You felt your face heat up with anger, and you clenched your fists so tight that they trembled. Taking a deep breath, you reminded yourself that you couldn't have the normal life you wanted if you lost your temper every other day. After a few breaths, you spoke up again.

"You're right." you started through clenched teeth. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." You stooped to pick up your bags and bid them both goodbye as politely as you could, turning to head for the checkout.

You payed for your items and thanked the cashier with a smile. You checked the clock on the way out, only to see it was broken. Once outside, you found Jack waiting, and he immediately turned his attention to you.

"Later, babe." he said, winking. He held up the bottle of wine from earlier. "My offer's still up for you, long as you know how to put that hand to other uses..."

_Last straw._

You gave a fake laugh and lowered your bags, stepping towards him and rubbing your hand slowly along his arm.

"Oh, it's got tons of uses." you purred. "Maybe a little demonstration?" you requested, lightly grabbing the wine bottle.

"Anything for you, babe." he responded, releasing the bottle. You knew it was wrong to respond to such petty things, but you weren't about to let anyone treat you like this. You took the bottle from him and looked it over, testing its weight. He grinned when you took a hold of the neck and you winked at him. Then, you cranked back your arm and hurled the bottle as hard as you could, causing it to shatter against a wall across the street.

"What the fuck?!" cried Jack, staring at the fragments. "That cost me eighty dollars!"

"Oh, darn." you whined in fake sadness. "Sorry, Jackie. Butterfingers..."

You picked up your bags again and headed for the Woodlands, a smile on your face all the way back. No, it wasn't the right thing to do. But it felt _so_ good.

With some difficulty, you managed to open the front doors to the Woodlands without dropping anything. You had tried knocking, but now that you were inside you saw the security guard asleep at his desk. Nothing new there. The place smelled strongly of cleaning product. It must have been cleaned while you were out, but the floor was still so wet that it couldn't have been done more than two minutes ago. You took a few steps in, when suddenly the same heavy clad figure from earlier bolted out of the stair way entrance, barreling into you and continuing through the door without stopping.

You lost your balance on the wet floor and crashed onto it, whacking your head on the hard floor. You cried out and quickly sat back up, clutching the back of your head. You looked around and silently thanked God that your bags had only lost a few oranges and a banana, which you quickly threw into the bin. After tentatively touching the back of your head, you decided it was fine and picked up your bags again, heading for the elevator. You pressed the button and waited, burying your head in your hands when it didn't come.

"Not now.." you groaned, pressing the button over and over in the hopes it might eventually come. It didn't.

You weren't even surprised. Today was the kind of day that this would happen. You lifted your bags again and set on the painful task of climbing the stairs. At this rate, you'd be lucky if you were able to walk to work at all, but being on time was out of the question. The strong smell of the cleaning products that your shirt had soaked up made you a little light headed, though you forced yourself to trudge up the steps.

After what felt like an eternity, you finally came to the door for your floor, and managed to summon the energy the open it, hanging your head in exhaustion. Only when you were five feet from your door did you notice that it was swinging wide open. Chills wracked your body. If there was someone in there, you certainly didn't have the strength to fight them now. Taking quick glances down both sides of the hallway, you decided to change yourself to your True Form. You would be stronger that way, and you were determined not to let anyone who dared invade your home get away with it. You leaned your bags against the wall and threw your jacket on the floor, not wanting to ruin it. You focused inward, letting that familiar feeling course through your body, burning more and more intense until it faded entirely, leaving you in your True Form. You could already feel a bit of strength returning to you. Your shirt was ruined by the wings tearing through it, but that was really the least of your concerns right now.

You slowly crept to the doorway and peered in, seeing no movement. After a moment of waiting, you moved further in, seeing no movement still, but now you could just make out something on the edge of your couch.

Crouching, you slid silently towards the couch and looked over the backrest of it to see a naked corpse laying on it, his eyes orbs of pure whiteness.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for reading! I don't know what it is about this chapter, but something in my mind keeps telling me it's awful :L. Maybe because it's so short? :'( I hope you enjoyed it though!


	3. Chapter 3

You stood staring blankly at the corpse.  Who was it? Why were they in your apartment? Who did it? These questions and so many more raced through your mind.

You circled around the couch slowly, as if you might wake up them up by being too loud. The nightmare you had had last night came to mind. You stared at the corpse silently, gauging its features. Sadness lay in his eyes, and his mouth was open like he was screaming. He seemed so familiar. After a moment of contemplation, your eyes widened as you realized who he was. The man who stood outside of the Woodlands earlier. You snapped your head up, wildly surveying the room. Where was his partner? You moved to your kitchen, and after making sure it was clear, you lifted one of your larger knives from the drawer. No shame in using a weapon.

The apartment was as silent as a graveyard, but you remained wary as you inspected all of the rooms. Each of them lay exactly as you had left them, not a single thing out of place. The only noticeable changes in the entire apartment were the body and the open door. Whoever committed this crime knew what they were doing, and they definitely had experience.  After finishing your tense search, you returned to the living room where the body lay. You stoof staring at it again, already knowing what the cause of death was but desperately trying to convince yourself that it was otherwise. The total lack of struggle marks on the body and the absence of blood could only mean that this was a murder committed through magic. Specifically, Succubus magic. The lifeless pale eyes were a dead give away. The problem was, up until now, you had thought yourself the only one to have survived the Homelands, but you were getting less sure by the second. You took a closer look at the door, noticing that it didn't look forced open, but you were certain that you had locked it. You turned back to the body and crouched beside it, taking a closer look for any telltale signs of Succubus work: Lipstick marks, Bite marks, the usual. Your search came up with nothing, but you could detect a light smell of cologne from the body. Had he planned to be treated like this? You thought back to earlier and tried to remember his partner. You never saw their face, and their clothes were just baggy enough that you couldn't make out any definite body shape. How convenient.

The first explanation that came to your mind was that someone was trying to frame you, but why? You hadn't treated anyone badly lately, no one except Jack, but then he couldn't really have set this up in the time it took you to walk from the store to the Woodlands.  No, you had been pretty nice the past week or two. What other reason could there be for trying to frame you? You stood back up, thinking on it heavily. There weren't a whole lot of fables who particularly cared for you, but you didn't think they hated you either. Your concentration broke when you heard the door to the stairs open, and slow footsteps on the floor.

'Shit!' you thought, jogging towards your front door. The last thing you needed was someone looking in and freaking out. In your haste, you accidentally whacked your hip on a chest of drawers in the hallway, sending a lamp to the floor where it smashed, and leaving a sharp pain in your side. You ignored them both, determined to get the door closed while those footsteps came closer and closer. Finally you grabbed the door with two hands, swinging it. At the last second, a strong hand shot in, stopping it from closing. You gasped in surprise, and considered running to hide, but the door swung back open before you could react. In the doorway stood Bigby Wolf, Fabletown's own sheriff. A tall, strong man with a famous temper, and the last person on the planet you wanted to see right now. He remained outside, standing with his hands by his side. He was frowning at you, but then you couldn't remember the last time you had seen him not frowning. He was probably born angry.

"(Firstname)." he said flatly, looking you up and down before returning to your eyes. "I've been gettin' some calls complaining about some commotion up here. You wanna tell me why that is, and why you aren't glamored?"

You practically leaped into the door frame and leaned against it, trying to use your body to block as much of his view as possible. You desperately tried to act nonchalant, but your panicked state was given away by your stuttering and tense bodily demeanor. You laughed dismissively and hoped he bought it.

"Commotion?" you repeated. "I d-uh, I dunno what you're talkin' 'bout Bigby. There's no one up here but me." You tried to be calm, but your legs trembled with nerves.

"Is that so?" he interrogated. "Coulda sworn I heard something breaking soon as I got up here."

"Oh, that was just a lamp. I was in a hurry and I whacked a table with my hip." This was easier for you to say. It wasn't even a lie.

"And what had you in such a hurry? I'm sure it wasn't to close the door before anyone could look in, was it? (Firstname)?"

Your brain tripped over itself searching for excuses, and you spoke the first one that came to your mind.

"Oh, no no!" you laughed. "See, there was a fly in my apartment, and I was waiting for it to leave, and it finally did so I wanted to close the door before it came back!"

If excuses were people, they'd be staring at you in disbelief.

"Uh-huh." he replied. Amazingly, he wasn't convinced. He gestured behind you with his head. "Well if that's all it was, I'm sure you won't mind if I take a quick look around." _Crap._

"No!" you blurted before you could stop yourself. Bigby crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at your outburst, and you dug your nails into your skin in frustration. _Smooth._

"I mean, uh, no. Sorry, Sheriff. I've gotta leave for work soon, I really don't have the time for this." you tried, grabbing the door again and starting to swing it closed. Bigby slapped his hand against it to stop it, and stared you hard in the eyes.

"Enough of the shit (firstname), we can do this the easy way or the hard way. And I am _not_ in the mood for the hard way today." he growled.

Your fear transformed to anger and disgust at this comment. You stood up more straight and stared angrily into his eyes.

"Intimidation tactics don't work on people who don't fear you, Mr. Wolf." you stated. You knew this wasn't the time or place for it, but pride was always one of your weaknesses.

Bigby's scowl deepened, but you stood your ground, refusing to move. You could have cut the tension with a knife. Deciding he had waited long enough, Bigby charged into the apartment, pushing you aside roughly.

"H-hey!" you yelped, clutching the door handle for balance. "What the fuck?!"

Once you felt safe enough to let go of the handle, you stared at Bigby. He had his back turned to you, his eyes focused on the corpse.

"I didn't do it." was all you could think to say. He didn't respond.

"I know it looks bad." you said, fear starting to rise again. "It looks really, really, really bad. But I swear to you Bigby. I haven't done anything."

You stepped towards him carefully. "Bigby, do you-"

You were interrupted by him turning rapidly and pushing you against the wall, his forearm at your throat.

"What the fuck have you done?!" he roared. The stench of cigarettes filled your nose with his proximity.

"I told you, I didn't do anything!" you cried, trying to remove his arm from you. You almost got free, but he pushed back harder, keeping you pinned.

"Don't fuckin' lie to me (Firstname)! Who is it?!" There's that famous temper of his.

"I don't know! I just came home and found him there! My fucking shopping bags are still outside!"

Bigby faltered, his grip loosening momentarily. He must have noticed the bags, and was considering your excuse. After another few tense moments, he released you, and sighed heavily. You were about to ask what he wanted to do next, but he spoke up again, looking you dead in the eyes.

"(Firstname) (Lastname), you're under arrest for suspicion of murder."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm sorry they're so short lately, but tell me guys, would you prefer they were short chapters often or long chapters with longer waits in between? Please let me know!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sneakily removes Crane from character list*
> 
> Well guys, here's the next chapter, and with no one missing! ha! why would you think that?

The elevator doors opened, and Bigby thumped you on the back, causing you to stumble forward into the hall. If you had been in your Succubus form, it wouldn't have phased you, but your human form was quite weak.

"Hey!" you snapped, turning around to glare at him. "Watch it with the shoving, will you?"

"Shut up, and follow me." he responded, walking down the hallway. The thought of running into the elevator and making a break for it crossed your mind, but you decided against it. The Sheriff didn't let his prey go easily, and even if you did escape Fabletown, you would have nowhere else to go, so you begrudgingly followed him. As you turned the corner, you surveyed the noticeboard stuck to the wall. Countless fliers resided there, some of them dating as far back as two years ago. It clearly wasn't touched very often. Bigby let the door swing open and gestured for you to move in first, which you quietly complied to. There was no way you would be going to jail without a fight, but you decided to remain co operative for as long as you could.

You took a seat in the only guest chair in the office, right in front of Bigby's desk, waiting for him to take his own seat, but instead he closed the door without a word, leaving you alone. You looked around his office. It was pretty small, and smelled strongly of cigarettes and coffee. The desk itself was almost invisible behind all of the paperwork and old coffee mugs that littered it. There were no windows, and the only light source was a dying desk lamp that just barely managed to illuminate the room. Curious, you leaned towards the desk and peered at some of the sheets. Most of them contained information that made little sense to you, name's you didn't recognize and numbers that held no significance to you. When you grew bored of the first layer, you reached out to peel it away, but the door opened suddenly, causing you to jump and shoot your hands down to your legs. Bigby slammed the door angrily and circled around you, falling into his chair, and giving you an intense stare. You didn't fear him, but something about this stare gave you a peculiar feeling in your stomach.

Moments passed without a word, and you were too focused on this weird feeling to speak up, so you waited for him to make the first move. It began to get rather awkward, and you fiddled with the ends of your jacket. Feeling so awkward and being so quiet wasn't normal for you, and you began to wonder why. Normally, you'd already be shouting at whoever dared treat you this way, but something about your current situation just changed you. You looked back up to Bigby, noticing that he hadn't shifted his glare at all. Eventually, he spoke up, relieving your distress.

"Look, Snow says she wants to give you some leniency because your record was clean before, and she wants me to prove it to her that you did what you did." he said gruffly.

You sat up in your chair, annoyed at his unwillingness to consider your innocence.

"But I didn-" you tried.

"So," he continued, glaring at you for cutting in. "You're going to tell me everything you did today, and I'm going to get interviews with every last person you mention."

You leaned back in the chair and groaned frustratedly. Bigby was so focused on getting justice that he wouldn't even listen to what you had to say. You stayed that way for a moment, contemplating the best way to go through your story. Even though it was the truth, you felt as if you were making up lies.

"I don't have all day (firstname)." he warned.

"Alright, alright.." you responded.

"Well, I left my apartment at.."

\--

Once you finally finished your story, you released a sigh and looked at Bigby, trying to gauge his response. He leaned back in his chair and scratched his stubble, staring at his desk and thinking hard. He then stood up and headed for the door without a word.

"Hey, where are you going?" you asked. He hadn't even said anything about your story. He stopped in the open doorway, and spoke without turning to you.

"I told you. I'm going to interview all of the people you mentioned. Stay here." he ordered.

"Seriously?!" you asked in disbelief. "That's going to take forever!"

"Well then it's a good thing you got nowhere else to go." Bigby answered, ending the conversation by closing the door behind him.

You couldn't believe what was going on. You would have to sit there forever while Bigby went to validate what you said with everyone you mentioned. Unless you decided to go for a little walk to pass the time. Couldn't hurt right? You stood up, taking a quick glance at your wrist. Clean. You moved to the door, and placed your hand on it lightly, steeling yourself. Maybe you should wait a bit longer. If you walked out and Bigby was standing there, things wouldn't go too well. You waited, tapping your foot impatiently, then creaked the door open. You could see no one standing in the hallway, and you cautiously stepped out, peeking left and right. You breathed a sigh of relief, glad to finally be away from the smell of cigarettes and coffee. With nothing else to do, you decided to go have a closer look at the noticeboard. No sooner had you taken one step towards it when the door beside Bigby's opened. You grimaced and turned slowly, expecting to see Bigby scowling down at you, but instead you found Snow White, Fabletown's Deputy Mayor, dressed in her regular work attire. Snow often came across as cold or harsh, but many understood that she truly did have Fabletown's best interests at heart, and she was far from a cruel woman. Upon seeing you, Snow cleared her throat and began speaking with you.

"Ah, (firstname). I was actually just coming to speak with you." she began, then looked around the hallway curiously. "Is Bigby still here? Where are you going?"

"Oh, nowhere!" you said a little too enthusiastically. The last thing you needed was Snow thinking you were escaping and siding with Bigby.

"Right..." she said, clearly confused. "Well, if you wouldn't mind following me, I'd like to ask you a few questions in my office."

"Of course." you replied, following her into the impossibly large room. You moved over to the desk with Snow's name on it and took a seat beside it. Snow sat on the other side and pulled out a notepad and pen. At a prompt, you began retelling your entire day to Snow. This time, it took much longer, with Snow asking questions at every opportunity and noting everything you said to the dot. You felt much more at ease talking to Snow than Bigby, understandably.

"Well," began Snow as she noted down the last details. "The good news is, if you're telling the truth, then all of this evidence will make it _very_ easy to verify your innocence." You wanted to respond, but she continued.

"You've had a very good record since moving here. I'm proud of you, and I'm sure Fabletown appreciates it." Snow gave you a warm smile, and you returned it graciously.

"Did Bigby say where he was going, by the way?" asked Snow, putting away the notepad and taking out a large stack of paperwork.

"Yeah." you responded. "He went to interview every single person i just mentioned to you."

Snow released a light laugh, still writing on her paperwork. "Yeah, that sounds like Bigby alright. He really doesn't hold back."

"Is he always such an asshole?" you blurted out. When Snow looked up to you with an eyebrow raised, you looked away in embarrassment and clasped your hands.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like -"

"No, it's alright." Snow cut in. She sat rested her elbows on the desk and looked at you. "I know Bigby comes across as cruel and heartless, but he really does have Fabletown's interests at heart. He really isn't all that bad." She released another laugh when you raised an eyebrow.

"I promise you, he isn't so bad. He's just so harsh with you because he's convinced you're to blame."

You tried to imagine Bigby being nice to anyone, which was difficult. You found yourself thinking of him being nice to you, hugging you. Embarrassed and annoyed, you banished it from your thoughts and returned your attention to Snow, who had resumed her work. You cursed aloud as you remembered your job, causing Snow to flick an eyebrow, but remain focused on her work. You were supposed to be at work an hour ago, and you were on your last straw. You noticed Snow's work phone and hoped she wouldn't mind.

"Snow? You mind if I use your phone? I need to phone into work and explain why I'm not there."

"Of course." she responded, sliding the device towards you.

You lifted the receiver to your ear and used your free hand to start typing the number in. You cursed again when you forgot the last four digits, but eventually they came back to you and you hammered them in. After a few rings, the other end picked up.

"'To The Nail' Salon, how can we help ya?" answered a female voice. After a moment, you realized it was Clarissa, the salon's receptionist. You didn't know her personally, but she seemed like a nice person.

"Yes, Clarissa? Hey, it's (firstname). I can't make it today." you said into the phone. You didn't really want to go into detail as to why you wouldn't be there. A strange crackling sound came from the receiver, and you realized she was sighing.

"Look, (firstname). I'm sorry but you know what the boss said. He's already got the next girl lined up." she couldn't have sounded less sorry if she tried.

"No, you don't understand. I'm-" you faltered. Telling her you were being held for suspicion of murder probably wouldn't go very well.

"What?" Clarissa shouted, causing you to grimace at the pain it caused your ear. "Yeah, it's (firstname). Well I don't just wanna-, yeah, alright." A constant buzzing met your ear as you realized she had hung up. You cursed, slamming the receiver down and burying your face in your hands. Snow looked up from her work curiously.

"What's the matter, (firstname)?" she asked. Before you could answer, the door to her office flew open and Bigby stormed in, anger in his face.

"Snow, she's gone. I told you she-" he stopped upon seeing you, and scowled at you, crossing his arms. "Why are you here? I told you to stay in my office."

"I brought her here." Snow intervened. "I wanted to ask her some questions about the whole thing."

"Why?" asked Bigby, averting his angered gaze to Snow. "I don't need your help on this, Snow."

"Because, Bigby." Snow said, anger biting the back of her voice. "I am the Deputy Mayor now, and I will look into any case as I see fit. Now, tell me what you found on your search."

Bigby placed a cigarette between his lips, lighting it. He released a large cloud of smoke into the air before he smoke, visibly more relaxed.

"I couldn't find Beauty _or_ Beast anywhere, so their statements will have to wait. Same with Mr.Floyd."

You scoffed lightly, causing Bigby to snap his gaze to you and narrow his eyes.

"Who I _was_ able to talk to was Mrs.Muffet and Jack."

'Fuck.' you thought, scratching your hand nervously. You had totally forgotten about Jack.

"According to Mrs. Muffet, (firstname) here was pretty aggressive in her store. She even threatened to hurt another customer." The corner of Bigby's mouth rose slightly as he stared at you, like this statement was the deciding factor.

"And what time was that at?" asked Snow, taking out the notepad from earlier and writing down some notes. Disappointment flickered on Bigby's face.

"She's not sure. The clock in her store has been broken for a while."

"Well, Bigby." Snow retorted. "That doesn't prove anything to us! Do you have any _useful_ information?"

Bigby's lip curled as he grew visibly agitated. "How about the fuckin' smell of bleach on her? Snow, I caught her with the fuckin' body! What else do you need?"

At this, you grabbed your jacket and held it up to your face, trying to get whatever smell Bigby was talking about.

"Bigby, what are you talking about?" asked Snow frustratedly. "There's no smell from her. You're just clutching straws at this point!"

"I know you can't fuckin' smell it, but I can!" Bigby answered angrily. His voice was starting to rise with anger. "It's bleach, like any dumbass would try use to get blood off their clothes!"

You sat staring at Bigby, trapped in utter confusion. You knew that he had a hot head, but you had at least trusted him to tell the truth. Now he just seemed to make up anything he could to convict you. You opened your mouth to protest when it suddenly came back to you. When you had entered the Woodlands earlier, the floor had only been cleaned recently, and that person had knocked you onto it. Obviously some of that would have gotten onto your clothes. Neither you nor Snow could smell it, but a noise like Bigby's would have no trouble. Thinking hard, you decided that this was all too convenient. There was no doubt that someone was trying to frame you. Now you needed to convince these two of that. It wasn't going to be easy. Snow looked at you expectantly.

"No, you've got it wrong." you stated, hoping you sounded more confident than you felt. "The floor downstairs had been cleaned when I came in and-"

"Bullshit." interrupted Bigby, scowling at you. Snow tossed him a warning glare and nodded at you to continue.

"And someone knocked me onto it." you continued. Relief washed over you as you brought out your strongest argument. You looked Bigby in the eyes. "And by the way, a Succubus doesn't even draw blood when they kill someone. It's a completely clean process." The two stood there silently. Neither of them had ever seen a Succubus do her work before, so neither of them could confirm it. You decided to go one step further.

"Bring me back to my apartment if you don't believe me." you requested. "I guarantee that you won't even find a single stain in the place. If you do, I'll plead guilty." Your heart flipped as you regretted saying that last part, but you were confident in the fact. Snow spoke up before Bigby could protest.

"That's not a bad idea, and right now we don't have _any_ better evidence." she stated, giving Bigby a look. "Take her to her apartment and don't leave until you've inspected every last inch of it."

Wordlessly, Bigby moved over to the desk and put out his cigarette in an old ash tray. He turned and walked out the door without even looking at you, and you stood up to follow him.

"(Firstname)?" Snow said, getting your attention. You turned to her with your eyebrows raised in question. "Yeah?"

"Just, don't forget what I said okay?" she asked. "Bigby's under a lot of stress. Try not to wind him up. Please."

You nodded and followed Bigby, closing the door of the office behind you. You came to the elevator and found him waiting in it with his hand holding the door. You muttered a quiet thank you, but Bigby did not respond, instead pressing the button for your floor. It got to you that he wouldn't even be decent enough to speak with you.

"I know you think I'm to blame, but you don't have to be such a fucking asshole." you spat out, crossing your arms and staring at the wall.

"I don't associate with murderers." replied Bigby, staring at the doors with his hands in his pockets.

You laughed out loud, gaining a scowl from him. "That's a joke, right? Please tell me it is." When he didn't respond, you laughed again. "Oh my fucking God, you're actually serious. The Big Bad Wolf doesn't associate with murderers. Oh God, the irony."

Bigby's lip curled up into a snarl, and he turned to face you. "Shut the fuck up. Now."

You had much more to say, but you held back, not wanting to enrage him. Snow had asked you not to, and you would feel bad letting her down. You kicked the toes of your right foot into the floor as you waited for the elevator to reach your floor. Once it finally did, Bigby quickly stepped out, followed by you, and you both made way to your apartment. Bigby entered first, instantly scouring the walls and floors for the slightest sign. You closed the door and rolled your eyes at his pedantry as he picked through every last detail. You were momentarily surprised to see the body gone, but you remembered Bigby had phoned in for it to be removed before anyone could find it. After a few moments of silence, Bigby spoke up.

"Why are you even here?" he asked while inspecting the couch. You faltered, not knowing what to say. Truthfully, there was no real reason for you being there.

"I wanted to see if my shopping bags were still outside for a receipt to prove I was there." you lied. "They were gone though."

Bigby did not respond, instead heading to the other end of the room and entering your bedroom to search. You moved to the kitchen, rummaging for the smallest thing that might help your case. While you picked around the counter, you heard the front door open. Curious, you moved back into the sitting room to see the door hanging open. Nerves getting to you, you slowly walked over and peeked out into the hallway, seeing nothing. You decided that you mustn't have closed it fully when you came back in. You swung it closed again and turned to see a figure swinging something at you, and then everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! Thanks for reading! Sorry Bigby is such a doody head right now, but I promise things will change á la futur! I'm going to alternate between my two fics, so the next work I do will be a chapter for A New Perspective. Until then!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oopsie, I accidentally posted the start of this :x How embarassing. I've deleted it now, but sorry to anyone who read it, I'm changing it. :P

You awoke on your bed. A burning sensation wore at your forehead, and you lifted a hand to it, which returned with a small streak of blood. You weren't too worried, Fable wounds healed quickly. What you _were_ worried about however, was the possibility that your assailant was still roaming around your apartment. Moving as quietly as you could, you stood up from the bed and looked around for anything close to use as a weapon. You could try for the kitchen and get another knife, but if you met them on the way there, you'd be left weaponless against someone who clearly doesn't mind using weapons.

Unfortunately, the closest thing to you that could be weaponized was the lamp on your nightstand. You could try smothering them with a pillow, but that probably wouldn't go down too well. You unplugged the lamp from the socket and grasped it tightly, releasing a tense breath at your current predicament. Lost at where to check first, you decided to head for the kitchen. At least if no one was there, you could pick up a real weapon.

You inched toward the bedroom door and scooted it open slowly with your foot. It opened silently, and you pressed yourself against the wall beside the door frame. You slowly leaned out until you could have a decent look around the room, but even after a good few moments of staring, you could see no movement. Judging by the darkness outside, it was around midnight. You stole a glance at the front door and found it still closed. As you looked around, your mind suddenly came to Bigby. It was possible that he was to blame here, but why would he do it? If he had wanted to kill you, he would have done it by now, and you didn't think he'd want to let Snow down by murdering you instead of proving your guilt. Maybe he had knocked you out so he wouldn't have to deal with you any more. Judging by the tales of his reckless behavior, that didn't seem too out of the question. Your grip tightened on the lamp in anger. Right now, he was the most reliable suspect you had, and Big Bad Wolf or not, you would make him pay for doing that to you.

You cautiously stepped out of your bedroom and into the sitting room, sweeping your head around for the slightest signs of activity. You couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean that nobody was here. You made your way to the kitchen and pressed yourself against the wall beside the doorway. You leaned to the side and peered in again, except this time, you could see a figure standing over the sink with the tap on. With the brown, slicked back hair, the shirt and the slacks, it could only be Bigby. Your teeth clenched as you raised the lamp higher, preparing it. Obviously Bigby was the one who had attacked you, and Sheriff or not, you weren't about to let it go. You took position behind him, slightly surprised that he hadn't heard you come up behind him.

You brought the lamp down hard, but misjudged your position, and sent it crashing against his left shoulder instead of his head. The lamp shattered loudly, and Bigby bellowed in pain. You took the chance to kick out his left leg and push him into the wall, which sent him to the ground. You straddled him and took one of the shards from the lamp, pushing it against his throat. Hopefully, he would be too surprised and caught up in panic to realize it wasn't a big threat to him at all.  
  
"What the fuck are you doing?" he roared, starting to push you off, but you forced your weight onto him, digging the shard closer into his throat.  
  
"Why did you attack me?" you demanded. You still weren't sure if it was Bigby, but right now he was the only suspect you had. Something in the back of your mind scolded you for acting so violent, reminding you that there would be consequences for doing this to an official, but it was overshadowed by the anger you felt at being treated the way you were.  
  
"That wasn't me!" he retorted. Unfortunately, he was perfectly aware that he was stronger than you, and he pushed you onto your back, pinning your arm with the shard to the ground. At this point, his eyes shone a bright amber as they glared furiously down at you. You had heard about the different forms he would take whenever he was enraged, and frankly, you were in no position to face off against him in one of his worse forms. You didn't fear him, but you knew when it was better to just hold off and avoid a fight.  
  
"Drop it. Now." he ordered, referring to the shard in your hand. You stared him defiantly in the eyes for a minute, but realizing you would tire long before he would, you relented and let it go, although Bigby still kept a strong grip on your arm. After much fruitless struggling, you huffed frustratedly and tried to ignore your pride.

"Well if you didn't attack me, then who did?" you asked. You kept staring him in the eye as your last defense of showing you didn't fear him.

Bigby seemed to think for a moment, but sighed in defeat, loosening his grip slightly and looking away.

"I don't know." he said quietly. You found it hard to believe your ears.

"What the hell do you mean you don't know?" you insisted. How could he not have seen whoever attacked you if he was in the same apartment?

"I don't know." he repeated. "He got away before I could catch 'em."

You were mad with Bigby for not being able to catch them, but at the same time, you found solace in the fact that this would clear your name. Unfortunately, someone was still out to place the blame on you, and you wouldn't be able to live comfortably knowing that someone so merciless and violent was out to get you. You decided to try convince Bigby and Snow that you could help them in their investigation. With no job to speak of any more, and a personal reason to keep at it, you were the perfect candidate for an assistant. Maybe if you helped solve the case, the rest of Fabletown would start seeing you in a different light too. For the moment, you couldn't see any downsides in trying to help. Now you just had to convince Bigby of this. You struggled to find the words that would bring him around, and decided to try ease into it.

"Well," you began, making your voice much more gentle. "What did he look like?"

"I couldn't get his face, he was bundled in clothes like it was the fuckin' arctic." he responded. "Why, do you know who that is?" he asked, upon noticing your eyes widen in surprise.

"No," you answered. "I don't know _who_ it is, but it sound like the same guy that knocked me on to the floor earlier. Now that I think of it, I saw him coming in to the Woodlands when I was leaving this morning."

"Why didn't you tell us that?" growled Bigby, finally getting off of you and standing on his feet. To your surprise, he lowered a hand to lift you, which you accepted.

"I didn't think it was important." you said quietly. You were starting to grow embarrassed at your naivety. Being covered in heavy clothing is like Suspicious People 101.

"Of course it's important!" asserted Bigby.

You cursed inwardly. Convincing Bigby was going to be difficult in the first place, but it was going to be near impossible if he was angry with you. You crossed your arms and looked down at the ground. Maybe if you used the right words, he would think it was his idea, and he'd feel more inclined to agree to it.

"Well, we know someone has it out for me now, right?" you started. You got stuck trying to find the right words to say.

"Yeah." answered Bigby. He looked away and crossed his own arms. "I'm uh, sorry I blamed you."

You clenched your jaw in an attempt to not look as surprised as you felt. Bigby Wolf apologizing to someone? Maybe you were still asleep. If you weren't, it was a golden opportunity to try get on his good side.

"Don't worry about it." you said, shaking your head. "It did look pretty bad, I know. Anyone could have made the mistake."

Bigby raised an eyebrow at you, but shrugged it off and kept silent, still avoiding eye contact with you. Did people really think so little of you that hearing niceties caught them off guard? All the more reason to give them a new perspective by helping to stop a criminal, you believed. You considered asking to help the case now, but decided you would be better off saving it until Snow was around too. No point in explaining it twice.

"So, where are you headed next?" you asked, trying not to sound too interested.

"I need to get back to Snow and tell her what happened here." he answered, starting to move towards the door.

"Wait!" you said a little too urgently, causing him to raise another brow when he turned to you. You spurted out the first excuse that came to your mind about having to go back with him.

"Snow asked to talk to me when we were done here." you lied. Lying to the Sheriff was risky work, they said that he could always tell when someone was lying.

"What about?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I dunno." you said quickly. "She just said she wanted to see me when I got back."

Bigby stared at you a little longer before turning back around and slowly walking out.

"Then we better not keep her waiting."

You applauded yourself for lying so well, and followed Bigby outside. You locked the door behind you, wondering again how your assailant could have gotten in without breaking the lock. You were stood there thinking when Bigby called out to you.

"Are you coming?"

"Yeah, sorry." you apologized, quickly shuffling to the elevator. Apparently, it was working now, but you seriously doubted anyone had been at fix it. Perhaps it had been tampered with? Bigby pressed the button to return to the business offices, and the doors closed quickly, leaving the both of you in an awkward silence. Not knowing what to say, you went over the whole fiasco at your apartment in your head. You lifted your hand to your head again, and took a quick glance at your wrist as you did so. Clean on both sides. You found yourself wondering how you had woken up on your bed. You had been attacked at your front door. Had your attacker brought you there?

"Hey Bigby," you began, earning his attention. "How did I get from the door to my bedroom?"

Bigby broke eye contact immediately, and brought a hand up to the back of his neck, rubbing it.

"I...I put you there." he answered quietly. "That's why he got away."

You stared at the elevator doors and ran your tongue over your teeth, not knowing what to say. How does one respond to that? If you scolded him for letting the attacker get away, you'd just be ungrateful and rude for him caring about your well being. But _why_ did he care about you? He could just as easily have left you on the floor and caught your attacker.

"Well, thank you." you said. Things were more awkward now than they had been when you first stepped in.

Bigby gave a silent nod then pulled out a cigarette, placing it between his lips and lighting it. He held the pack towards you but you shook your head in refusal. He slid the pack back into his pocket. After an eternity of waiting, the doors finally slid open, and you both quickly stepped out. Bigby led the way to Snow's office, and held the door open for you as you stepped in. You were a little put off by his dramatic change in attitude to you, but shrugged it off as his regret for blaming you.

Bigby explained the situation to Snow, who listened intently to every word he said. You stood close by rather awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Now was your only chance to convince them that you could help, and you went over your arguments again and again in your head. Most of it was in your own interest, but they didn't need to know that.

"Oh yeah, and (firstname) said you wanted to talk to her?" Bigby said, finally finished with his report. Snow looked confused and opened her mouth, but you cut in.

"I wanna help with the investigation." you said quickly. Snow and Bigby gave you confused looks, but you continued before they could object.

"Whoever is to blame here has it out for me, and makes no attempt to hide it. I can help you guys, but you have to let me." you pleaded. "Plus, I, uh don't really have anything better to do." you said more quietly. "I got fired from my job because I wasn't there today."

The two stood there for a moment and looked at each other before Snow spoke up.

"(Firstname), could you please excuse us for a moment? We need to discuss this." she requested politely. "Feel free to look around the room while you wait."

You nodded silently and walked away. Once you were out of earshot, you let out a sigh. There was no way they would accept you. Snow might see the advantages of it, but there was no way Bigby would agree. You walked around vacantly staring at random objects in the room. There was some rather interesting clutter spread about, but you couldn't focus on any of it, too concerned with what the two were discussing. You had fixated your sights on an enormous floating ship deep within the room when Snow called you back over. Bigby had begun leaving the room, probably out of anger.

"Okay, (firstname). We've agreed to let you help in this investigation, but you have to meet us halfway with a few conditions." Snow stated.

You nodded enthusiastically. "Anything." you said.

"Well, if you're going to be working alongside Bigby, you'll have to listen to what he tells you to do. He has a lot of experience in this, and he deserves your respect on his decisions, alright?" she asked. You nodded again. That wouldn't be too difficult.

"Thank you." said Snow. "And, as a personal request, could you two try to get along? I don't want to regret this by hearing one of you killed the other tomorrow morning."

"I'll try." you said with a smile, causing Snow to nod her head. "That's all I ask." she declared.

"And for our final, official request..." began Snow. She sighed deeply and looked away uncomfortably, unsure how to continue.

"Well, as I'm sure you understand, it's too dangerous for you to stay in your apartment from now on. Someone obviously has access to it, and they've shown that they have no qualms about being violent. We've discussed this thoroughly, and we've determined that the safest place for you to stay is with Bigby."

You scoffed and smiled at Snow, expecting her to break out into a laugh and come out with what the real last condition was. When her expression remained serious, your own smile dropped and you stared at her blankly, unsure what to say.

"I know it's not your ideal scenario," she said, crossing her arms in discomfort. "But the next safest place for you to stay is in our holding cells."

You stared at Snow in disbelief, trying to find a way to argue, but inside you knew she was right. There were other residential buildings in the poorer parts of the Fabletown, but if the Woodlands wasn't safe, how could they possibly be? Most people feared Bigby too, so that added another layer of protection against attackers. You sighed frustratedly, and it suddenly hit you how tired and hungry you were. You hadn't eaten all day, and you had been up since early this morning. With no energy, you silently nodded in defeat.

"Thank you." Snow said, managing a small smile. "I promise you, it won't be so bad. Bigby's waiting in his office for you."

Although it hadn't gone exactly as planned, you were grateful to Snow, especially for persuading Bigby, so as you opened the door of the office, you called back to her.

"By the way Snow, thanks for convincing Bigby to let me help."

Snow looked up from her desk, a small smile on her face. As the door closed, she responded.

"Actually (firstname), Bigby convinced _me._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WUH-BAM. New chapter. Sorry it took so long, my loyal readers! That's really the best reason I could think of for making you stay with Bigby, so I hope you're satisfied! (I know I'd be satisfied with any reason to stay with Bigby.)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

You stood in the hallway outside of Snow's office, thinking about what she said. Bigby convinced _her_ to let you help?  That was literally the opposite of what you had assumed would happen. Why would Bigby try to get your help? He wasn't exactly known for his stunning people skills, or being friendly at all, really. Maybe he thought he owed it to you for accusing you? No matter the reason, you were in it now, and it was time to prepare yourself. You stifled a yawn and pinched your hand to try wake yourself up again. You'd be no use to them falling asleep.

You moved to Bigby's closed door and stood there for a moment, thinking again. You wondered if you should ask him why he wanted to work with you. You didn't want him to feel like he owed you anything for being wrong about you, or it would just get annoying quickly. You decided to ask him about it, and tell him not to worry about repaying you, if that was the case. You smoothed out your shirt and placed your hand on the door handle, slowly opening it and stepping in.

Bigby sat at his desk, scribbling away onto some paper. When you entered, he glanced up for a moment before returning to his work with the same blank expression. Figuring it must be important, you sat quietly in the chair and waited for him to finish. Looking at his default, scowling expression, your heart ever so slightly sank at the work that was to come. You knew detective work was no joyride, but having the world's most permanent frown beside you wasn't going to make things easier. You had promised Snow that you would try to get along though, so you tried to accept it. You tried again to think of who would want to frame you to pass the time.

You stifled another yawn and cleared your throat, resuming your thought. It was pretty boring, but you didn't want to complain or he might regret accepting you. Bigby mumbled something, but you were too deep in thought to hear it fully the first time.

"What?" you asked. "Sorry, I was thinking."

"I said," began Bigby, still writing on his papers. "If you're tired, go and rest."

"I'm not tired." you protested. You sat up straighter and rested your head on your knuckles, leaning your elbow on the chair's arm. It might have been a lie, but you didn't want to come across as weak or unable for the job. You knew you could be just as good at this as anyone else.

Bigby stopped writing and leaned back in his chair, stuffing his hand into his pocket. After a moment of searching, he pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and threw them towards you. Surprised, you snapped a hand towards them, but they clanked to the floor. You glared at Bigby before getting up and retrieving them. At first, you thought they were keys for some filing cabinets, or somewhere you could start helping, but upon closer inspection, they looked the same as your own keys for your apartment. You glared at Bigby again, annoyed. You knew you were supposed to try get along with him, but it had only been two minutes and he was already making it difficult. You had told him you weren't tired, but here he was insisting you went to his apartment.

"And what are these for?" you questioned, anger biting your words.

Bigby still didn't look up from his work. "You know what they are." he answered flatly. "Now go get some rest. I don't want to carry around half asleep dead weight while I'm working tomorrow."

You huffed and crossed your arms, dangling the keys from your fingers. Why he was he insisting so much?

"I told you. I am NOT tired." you insisted. By this point, you knew you were acting a little childish and stubborn, but you weren't going to just roll over and follow his orders like a dog.

Bigby caught you by surprise when he slammed his hands on the table and stood up suddenly, leaning towards you.

"You're here working with me. That means you agreed to the contract, which means you said you'd do as I say. Now go home and rest before I tell Snow to revoke your position."

You glared at him, but held your position. He was right that you had agreed to do as he said, but you hadn't thought it would apply to situations like this. You would have to do it, but you were determined not to make it easy for him.

"Well, I don't know where your apartment is." you lied. Pretty much everyone knew where everyone lived in the Woodlands, but he couldn't exactly prove you were lying.

Bigby glared at you for a few seconds. You hoped he might be too busy to bother bringing you over, but he was just as stubborn and proud as you were, and he moved from behind his desk. He stood in front of you and held out a hand. You were confused for a moment, thinking this was a bit dramatic. Was he really going to hold your hand all the way to his apartment just to make a point and embarrass you? It was petty and pathetic, especially for Bigby, but you weren't going to back down and buckle under his command. You placed your hand in his, causing Bigby to raise his eyebrow and eye you curiously.

"Uh, the keys, (firstname)?"

You felt your cheeks flare in embarrassment, and you quickly ripped your hand from his. You couldn't bring yourself to look him directly in the eyes as you handed the keys to him, instead looking at one of the walls in the room. How could you have been so stupid? Why would he possibly want to hold your hand? And why would you have let him? You took a quick glance at Bigby out of the corner of your eyes. He was also looking awkwardly away, but why? He wasn't the one who just made them self look like a total idiot. You expected him to start pestering you about it, but he remained silent until he cleared his throat for your attention.

"Let's go." he said, moving around you and leaving his office.

You stayed for a moment before turning around and following him out. You took another arbitrary glance at the noticeboard before coming to the elevator, where Bigby stood with one hand in his pocket and the other holding the door open for you. You began to regret forcing him to show you where his apartment was, thinking about how awkward things were going to be from now on.

"Thanks." you said quietly, stepping into the elevator.

"No problem." responded Bigby, letting the doors close.

A sudden thought came to you. If you were going to spend the next while staying at Bigby's, you would need something to sleep in. Even if you had a private room with a lock, there was no way you would sleep in your underwear.

"Can we stop at my apartment real quick first?" you asked suddenly, pressing the button before Bigby could answer.

"I guess." he answered coolly. Not like he had much choice.

 As soon as the doors closed and you were stuck in there with Bigby, a peculiar feeling grew inside of you. It was like a fire that burned with impossible intensity, but it felt satisfying. You knew that it would go away if you established a connection with Bigby on a closer level, but you were determined not to feed in to it for as long as possible. Not knowing what else to do, you thought over what had happened in the office. What would he think of it? Would he realize that it was just one of those moments, or would he think it was something more? _Was_ it something more? You normally wouldn't accept anyone's hand to lead you anywhere, especially in such a patronizing way, but you had decided to let Bigby. Even if it had been a matter of pride, there had to be a deeper reason for it. You took a quick glance at him through the side of your eye. He wasn't ugly, but you couldn't be attracted to him. You just couldn't. You tried to convince yourself that there was absolutely no reason to like him, that there was nothing in common with you to make a connection, but was that true? You both had undesirable pasts that you were trying to distance yourselves from to live normal lives, Bigby maybe more so than you. You both also had to deal with the mistrust much of Fabletown had for you because of said pasts. You cursed yourself for starting to feel attracted to the man you would have to work with for god knows how long.

You found yourself staring at him for longer than you meant to, and when his eyes suddenly snapped to yours, you jumped and quickly turned your eyes back to the elevator doors. Desperate to look anywhere but at him, you lifted your arm and inspected your wrist with too much curiosity. Clean.

"You expecting something to appear there?" Bigby asked suddenly.

"What?" you asked, still looking at your wrist, and fighting hard to keep your voice indifferent.

"Your wrist. You keep checking it like something's gonna happen." answered Bigby.

You held on to your wrist and shifted your gaze to the floor, still not able to return to his eyes.

"It's just a habit. What's it to you anyway?" you snapped. You had to express this emotion in some way, and if that way was anger, then so be it.

"Sorry I asked." responded Bigby evenly. The fact that he didn't even sound mad made you feel worse about reacting so harshly. You remembered your promise to Snow, and sighed.

"No, I'm sorry." you said. "I shouldn't have reacted like that."

Bigby didn't respond, and you took that to mean the conversation was over. At last, the ding signalling the elevator's arrival sounded, and the doors slid open. Bigby put a hand on the door again, asking you to hurry up in case other people needed to use it. You nodded and quickly ran into your apartment, stuffing a few necessities into a bag and running back out to the elevator.

"Thanks." you said again, taking your original spot in the elevator. You pretended to shuffle through your bag in an attempt to busy yourself and make things less awkward. After a moment, the elevator chimed again and the doors slid open.

The hallway that met you was the smallest you had ever seen in the Woodlands. Only one door lay at the end of it. Bigby stepped out of the elevator, and you waited for a moment again before following him. Despite your best efforts, you found yourself staring at the back of him as you walked. Upon reaching the door, Bigby turned his head for a moment, checking if you were still behind him, and slid the key into the lock, opening the door. He stood aside and motioned for you to enter. You wanted to know why he was acting so strange, but after what you just did, asking that question would be a bit hypocritical. You stepped in, and turned to him expectantly, but he had already begun closing the door.

"Wait!" you blurted suddenly, cursing yourself for sounding desperate. "Aren't you coming in?"

Bigby opened the door slightly and looked in at you.

"No, I've got some work to finish first. You can rest on the couch over there." he said, nodding towards a couch in the sitting room.

"You don't need me to hold your hand and guide you over, do you?" he joked, smiling slyly at you.

You glared at him through narrowed eyes and crossed your arms.

"Watch it, Wolf. Have you forgotten already who knocked you on your ass earlier?" you sneered.

Bigby scoffed and opened the door wider, stepping in slightly and crossing his arms. He narrowed his eyes at you, but had a small smile on his face.

"Well, that's not fair. You caught me by surprise." he said, causing you to scoff yourself.

"Oh sure,  _that's_ why." you grinned, cocking your head in mock pity.

Bigby let out a small laugh before turning back to the door. 

"We'll settle this later, (lastname)." he stated, shutting the door.

You heard him slide the key into the lock, and you lifted a hand the scratch your head. Not two minutes ago you were convincing yourself that you weren't attracted to Bigby, and now you were joking around with him like you were old friends. You wondered what had gotten into you, and concluded that it was just down to your exhaustion. You looked at the couch Bigby had provided to you. It looked pretty old, but it wasn't falling apart just yet, and actually seemed quite plush. You remained in place and looked around the rest of the apartment, marvelling at how tiny it was. The only rooms you could see were the living room, the kitchen, and a bathroom. You blinked and looked around again, but you had counted right. There was no bedroom. Where did Bigby sleep then? You took a quick walk around, even checking the bathroom, but the only place that was suitable for anyone to sleep was the armchair beside the couch. You groaned and rubbed your eyes, hoping another door to Bigby's bedroom would appear. Having him sleep just a bit more than arms length from you was going to be a special kind of torture with all of these feelings that worked up inside of you.

You moved over to the couch and studied it, trying to guess its weight. You could try shifting it a bit to be further away, but that would just make things more awkward than they needed to be, and you really didn't have a right to start moving stuff around the second you stepped into his apartment anyway. Accepting your fate, you dug a pair of night clothes from the bag and threw it at the side of the sofa, moving to the bathroom to change. You closed the door behind you, and felt grateful that the bathroom was pretty clean. You switched clothes, then moved to the mirror. You stared at yourself, thinking about Bigby. You tried telling yourself it was just an infatuation, but no matter how many times you repeated it, something in your head kept fighting back, telling you it was real. You turned and leaned against the sink, burying your head in your hands. Of all the people, why did it have to be Bigby? After a few moments of self pitying, you took your old clothes and left the bathroom.

On the way to the couch, you took notice of a desk against the wall covered in papers. You took a quick glance over them and realized it was more of Bigby's work. He was really loaded down on work. You wanted to read them properly, but decided to tomorrow, much too tired to focus right now.

You reached the couch and lay down. After a few moments of shuffling, you found a comfortable position and let your eyes fall shut.

\--

You stood in your apartment's kitchen, washing dishes while deep in thought. Your head swung around in surprise upon hearing a loud noise from somewhere in your apartment. Worried, you dried your hands quietly and began walking towards the living room. You thought about bringing a weapon, but you felt unable to control your own body. You could still feel yourself moving, breathing, worrying, but it was a startling juxtaposition of watching yourself as well as being in your own body. You reached the living room and slowly stepped in, inspecting the place for signs of activity. Your body disobeyed you again in going further into the room instead of turning and getting a weapon, and you could only watch helplessly as a figure jumped from the shadows and grabbed you. At first, you yelped, but upon turning to the figure, you smiled as Bigby let out a chuckle.

"What have I told you about scaring me?" you scolded, thumping him on the chest and crossing your arms.

Bigby laughed again and moved closer to you, placing his hands on your waist while looking down at you.

"Sorry, but it's just so easy." he said.

After a moment of intense staring, Bigby leaned down until your lips were centimeters from each other.

\--

You woke to the sound of footsteps and found Bigby walking towards his work desk. You sat up and blinked in surprise when you found a shirt laying on top of you. Peering through sleepy eyes, you eventually discerned it to be one of Bigby's shirts. You raised an eyebrow and looked to Bigby, who had his back turned to you at his desk. He had put this on you, but why? You clutched it and pulled it towards you. It seemed to quench that thirst inside you to connect with Bigby more. It was all so confusing. The only things you had ever heard about Bigby Wolf from all but a few people was that he was self centered, cruel and heartless. But here he was holding doors open for you and covering you while you slept. You came to realize that it wasn't fair to judge Bigby based on what others had said. After all, people said similar things about you, but you tried to make them as untrue as possible. It was time to make a clean slate, and evaluate Bigby for yourself.

"Thanks for the shirt." you said, but Bigby still looked down at his table instead of turning to you.

"No problem." he answered. "You looked cold, so..."

You smiled to yourself and nodded, looking down at the shirt and squeezing it. You didn't want to go back to sleep. Not with the chance to talk to him in private.

"What time is it?" you asked, raising a hand to rub your eyes.

"Around four AM?" answered Bigby, still looking down at his desk.

You raised your eyebrows in surprise. Another four hours of hard work while you slept made you feel a little guilty.

"So, now that you're up," began Bigby, earning your attention again. This time he turned around and leaned against the desk with his arms folded.

"You wanna get some food? I was gonna order anyway."

You nodded enthusiastically and swung your legs to the floor, leaning against the back of the sofa. Only when Bigby mentioned food did you realize how famished you were.

"Yeah, I'd love some." you answered. "But don't you need some sleep?" You stood and picked up your jacket, fishing through it until you found your wallet.

"I'll catch some after we eat." replied Bigby, picking up a menu from his desk and throwing it towards you. Being only light, it fluttered around randomly before landing on the floor between you.

"Smooth." you joked, getting up and retrieving the menu from the floor.

You read through it and decided what you wanted, opening your wallet and digging out some cash. You held it towards Bigby, and he shook his head in response.

"It's okay, I got it." he stated, lifting up the phone and starting to enter the number.

It was a kind gesture, but you wanted to pay for yourself. Whether something was going on between you or not, you wouldn't let him think that you couldn't take care of yourself. You had your own money and you could pay for your own food, it's nothing special.

"No, Bigby, take it." you insisted, turning his hand and pushing it into it.

Bigby looked at you, and you remembered thinking that he wanted to repay you for accusing you. It was time to get that out of the way and move past it.

"Look, you don't owe me anything for trying to arrest me." you stated, looking him in the eye and putting on a serious tone. "It was just a mistake. You don't have to treat me any better to try make up for it."

Bigby stared back into your eyes. You swore you could see a sort of pain behind them, and you thought you might have been a bit too harsh in what you said, but you stuck by it.

"Alright." he said flatly, placing the money on his desk and dialing the number. He ordered your food and thanked them before hanging up, quickly returning to his work.

Satisfied with getting that out of the way, you returned to the couch and took a seat. With nothing else to talk about, you decided to ask Bigby a few questions about the job. Better to get the info now than to wait until you needed it.

"So..." you began, looking at the back of Bigby's head. "What's on the schedule for tomorrow?"

Bigby stood in thought for a moment before turning back to you.

"You tell me." he said.

You raised an eyebrow at Bigby. Tell him what? Wasn't he in charge here? How would you know what to do?

"If you're going to be workin' with me, then I need to know that you've got the right mind for the job." finished Bigby.

So, it was a type of test. You huffed, suddenly feeling under extreme pressure. The fact that you had only woken up two minutes ago really didn't help. If you messed this up, Bigby might not trust you with decisions in the future. You had to show him that you were capable of this job. Possible decisions and their outcomes raced through your mind at a mile a minute. You looked at Bigby silently, becoming more nervous the longer you took to decide. You worried that if you waited too long he'd declare you unfit for the job and send you off, away from the job and away from him. Although it hurt you to acknowledge it, you couldn't bear the thought of having to leave him so quickly. Bigby opened his mouth and your brain leaped into action, fearing the worst.

"Well," you said quickly, causing Bigby to catch his breath and close his mouth again. "I guess we could start by asking the Woodland residents if they noticed any suspicious activity. _Somebody_ must have seen the person running from my apartment."

Bigby nodded, but didn't evaluate what you had said or criticize it. You raised your eyebrows again expectantly, but still he didn't say anything.

"Well?" you asked. "Was that right?"

Bigby shook his head and crossed his arms, leaning against the table.

"(Firstname), one of the most important things you'll learn is that there is almost never a 'right' answer. We can only do what we think is best, and hope it works out."

You frowned in confusion and stared at Bigby. That didn't sound right to you at all. There's always a right way to do everything, isn't there? Before you could ask further, a knock on the door signaled the arrival of your food. Bigby opened the door and took the food, thanking the delivery woman and closing the door. He moved to the kitchen, and you stood up to follow him. On the way over, you took a quick look at his work desk, curious about what it was, and sighed in annoyance when you found your money still sitting on the desk. You wanted to say something, but your growling stomach protested against waiting any longer for food. Instead, you left the money on the desk and joined Bigby in the tiny kitchen, where he had splayed out all of the food on the table. You both took your own and returned to the sitting room, you taking a seat on the sofa, and Bigby on his own chair. You still wanted to know what he meant by there not being 'right' answers.

"Bigby," you said, picking through your food. "What did you mean by there's no right answers? How can there not be a right way to do something?"

Bigby looked at his food and let out a breath, trying to decide the right way to word it to you.

"Every time you're put on the spot and forced to make a decision, you have a choice. Every choice is right, and every choice is wrong. No matter what you pick, there will always be someone who isn't happy. So you have to learn to make the choice that _you_ think is right, and stick with it. If you don't learn to do that, then this job will eat you alive."

You stared at Bigby, surprised by his answer. It was blunt, and a bit threatening, but you could feel the truth behind it. You thought of all the times you had heard about Bigby making cruel or violent decisions over the years, and tried to apply the rule to those situations. Had he been doing what he thought was right? You took a glance at Bigby. He appeared to be pretty down after what he just said, so you decided to just leave him be for the rest of the night. It was probably his first time admitting how difficult his job was to anyone.

\--

Once you had finished your food and cleaned away the rubbish, you lay back on the couch. Bigby took his own seat and leaned back, closing his eyes. You stared at him for a moment, that now familiar feeling rising inside of you, but you ignored it, laying down and closing your eyes.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Hope this chapter wasn't too boring for you! Until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

You awoke and immediately grimaced at the shot of pain in your hip. You must have slept on it the wrong way. You sat up, stabilizing yourself with one hand and rubbing your eyes with the other. Looking around, it took you a moment to remember that you were in Bigby's apartment. You yawned quietly and looked over to Bigby in his chair. He was still deep in sleep, leaned back in his chair with one arm on each of their chair's armrests. Even in his sleep, he still seemed to be frowning. You stared at his face, wondering why it was always kept in that permanent scowl, and eventually that feeling in your stomach broke through your sleepy body and hit you full force. Your cheeks instantly heated up and you looked away, not wanting to make things any worse than they already were. You found solace in the fact that sooner or later, your unrequited feelings would just fade away, and you could get on this case without worrying about such things.

You stood from the sofa quietly, stretching out your limbs and rubbing your hip. Thinking about last night, you decided it was better if you let Bigby sleep for a while longer. He had been up a lot longer than you and working hard, it wouldn't be fair to force him up with you. While you thought about what to do while you waited, you remembered the shirt Bigby had given you. You turned and picked it up from the sofa. You felt a little pathetic and childish doing it, but you couldn't resist holding it up to your face, taking in Bigby's scent. It mostly smelled like cigarettes, but you still felt comforted to have been able to interact with him on some level, even if you did feel it was below you.

You considered actually putting the shirt on you while you walked around the apartment, but maybe that was a little creepy, and you couldn't come across as more desperate if you tried. You went to throw it back on the couch, but stopped, and looked over to Bigby again. You could put the shirt on him, but would that be too obvious? He had done it for you, so you supposed that it was just repaying a kindness. You took a breath, preparing yourself. If Bigby woke up in the middle of this, you would never be able to get away from it. You opened out the shirt and stepped towards him slowly. The only sign of life from him was his broad chest rising and falling with each breath, and thankfully, his face didn't flicker or twitch when you lay the shirt across his body. You stood back, and despite telling yourself to move over and over again, your body just wouldn't stop facing him. The feeling in your stomach graduated up to your chest, and your heart burned with desire as you looked over his face. You could feel your face heating up, but eventually you forced yourself to turn and walk around to the kitchen.

You bustled around the kitchen, looking for the smallest thing that would distract from thinking about him. You rifled through each drawer until finally you laid eyes on a coffee machine on the counter. You didn't have one of your own, and you didn't even like coffee that much, but it couldn't be that hard to use. At the very least you could just pour it down the sink when you were done. You quickly moved over to it and inspected the buttons, reading the labels on them. It had a multitude of settings that didn't mean anything to you, but you were certain that you could figure it out. You pressed a few of the buttons, determined to figure them out and take your mind off of Bigby. Eventually, the machine started to make a low whirring noise, and you smiled in satisfaction when a liquid began pouring from the bottom half. You looked down at its destination and started panicking when you realized it had nowhere to be contained, instead spreading all over the counter. You cursed loudly and started mashing the buttons again while the liquid started dripping off the counter and onto your feet, scalding them in spots. You hopped around trying to avoid the spillage and eventually just ripped the socket from the wall, finally ending the carnage.

You sighed in relief, but tsked as you looked down at your lower half. Your bottoms were covered in coffee and sticking to your legs, and you had small burn marks on your feet. Pretty much all of it had gotten on to you, so at least Bigby's floor was spared, but you weren't sure why you cared more about that than yourself. You looked back up to the counter and groaned at the large puddle of coffee surrounding the machine. How could you not have noticed there was nothing under it? You looked around for a moment and glared at the coffee pot that rested in the sink, as if it were its fault for being there. Picking up a towel from one of the presses you had searched, you had just pressed it onto the counter when Bigby spoke up from the doorway and made you jump in surprise.

"What are you doing?" he asked. You could hear the confusion and annoyance in his voice as he stared hopelessly at his counter.

You stopped and turned to him. The feelings inside of you transformed to a burning discomfort as you looked at Bigby. He didn't seem mad, but he was probably just soaking in the scene. You didn't think that he would lose it over something like this, but still you could feel the fear inside of having him be upset with you. You could feel that your voice was going to start shaking if you talked for too long, so you decided to just give him a short an answer as possible and leave it there.

"Making coffee..." you said, much quieter than you had planned, and starting to dab the towel around sheepishly.

Bigby was silent for a moment, but spoke up again, his voice considerably more light than the first time.

"Well, I don't know about you," he began, grabbing a towel of his own and moving beside you to start drying off the counter. "But I prefer mine in a mug." 

You laughed involuntarily, blushing slightly afterward but smiling while you soaked up the coffee. You could see that Bigby was smiling slightly too, and the heaviness in your heart dissipated when you realized that he wouldn't be mad with you. Unfortunately, instead of fading away entirely, the feeling returned to a burning desire, and you could feel your breath slowly becoming more and more excited with each second. You resolved to finish up as quickly as possible and jump into the shower for some alone time to think, as well as to wash the coffee from your body. Thankfully, you had one more pair of night bottoms to use for now.

You began thinking about what was to come today. You would have to visit most, if not all of the people in the Woodlands and ask them if they had noticed your attacker running off, or anyone acting suspiciously at all, for that matter. You couldn't predict whether it was going to be easy or not, but you were certainly determined to try. You were so buried in your thoughts that you didn't notice how close your hands were becoming until they touched off of each other. Although your brain screamed at you to pull back, you simply stared at your hands touching, and left it be, savouring the moment. You were worried that Bigby would pull his back and berate you for acting so strangely, but he didn't seem to want to move either. You turned your head slowly and looked up at him, but he was staring down at your hands as you had been. Feeling your eyes on him, he looked to you and cleared his throat before looking away and moving his hand.

"Sorry." he said flatly, scratching his stubble with his free hand.

You wanted to say it was okay, but it wasn't. Even touching the sides of your hands together had caused the feelings inside of you to flare up like an inferno and racked your body with chills. It wasn't okay that you had just fed into these feelings and let them grow even larger. It wasn't okay that neither of you had retracted your hands, but instead allowed them to heat each other. It wasn't okay that you loved Bigby.

"I'm going to have a shower." you said suddenly, leaving the towel on the counter and starting for the living room.

"Aren't you gonna have some coffee?" Bigby asked, making you stop. "You know, now that someone who actually knows how to make it is here." he added with a sly smile.

You turned to him and cocked your head, licking your teeth in mock anger but smiling slightly.

"Funny." you said flatly. "I don't even like coffee, smartass." Your eyes widened and you inhaled sharply at what you had just said. Bigby looked at you strangely, and you didn't blame him. Someone who didn't like coffee using a coffee machine and making a huge mess out of it. That made  _perfect_ sense. Before Bigby could question you, you spurted out even more mistakes.

"I made it for you." you said, then your eyes widened even more, and you swore your face couldn't get any hotter if there were irons pressed against it.

Bigby's expression relaxed from confusion to a small smile.

"Oh. Well, thanks. I think."

You nodded quickly and ran to the living room, grabbing your regular clothes from your bag and quickly entering the bathroom, closing the door tight behind you. Thankfully, although you had forgotten to grab some, there were plenty of towels inside. You didn't think you could face Bigby again before you had time to think about what just happened. You peeled off your clothes and jumped into the shower, leaning your hands against the wall and letting the hot water wipe away the dried coffee on your legs. As you let it soak you, you dared to think over what had just happened again. What  _did_ just happen? You buried your face in your hands and groaned quietly as you though about how stupid you had looked. What would Bigby think of it? The whole hand fiasco in his office could be passed off as one of those moments, but this was on a whole new level of insane. Would he see through it and realize how you felt about him, or would he let it slide and just think you were a little out of your mind? You couldn't decide which one you preferred. You thought over it repeatedly as you washed yourself. Why did you even get so nervous around him? It was completely unlike you to act that way towards anyone, and you weren't fond of making a fool of yourself twice in less than twenty four hours.

Only when you were drying yourself did your mind come back to the present, and you shuddered as you imagined what would happen once you stepped outside of the bathroom. Would Bigby mention any of it? Would he tease you and make fun of it as he had done with the last time your hands touched? Granted, this time was completely different, but it was still as bad. Worse, even. At least, in your eyes it was. It dawned on you that Bigby might have though absolutely nothing of it. You were the one in love with _him_ , after all. He probably didn't see these kind of events the same way you did. Maybe he would already have forgotten about it by the time you stepped out. Wishful thinking, but possible. You took a sharp breath to prepare yourself, picking up your night clothes and opening the door.

Bigby stood in his living room with just his slacks and shoes on. He looked over to you and nodded in acknowledgement as he picked up another shirt and started sliding it on. You looked to the wall a little too quickly and prayed that your cheeks were not as red as they felt. Why did you have to get out now? Two seconds later and he would have been fully clothed, and  _you_ wouldn't have been on the verge of passing out with your heart beating a mile a minute. You realized how strange you must have looked craning your head like that, so you forced your face into a mask of indifference and turned back to Bigby, who had just finished putting his shirt on.

"You done?" he asked, shimmying his tie down his head and folding his collar over it.

You were grateful that he didn't instantly mention your strange behaviour, but you still didn't trust your voice not to shaky or squeak, so you nodded and moved over to the couch, placing your nightclothes beside your bag. Bigby went into the bathroom and washed himself up while you waited. You sat on the couch and though about what you had just saw. Thankfully, it was just his upper half that was naked, or you were sure you would have passed out there and then, but it still brought about unique feelings in your body that had not surfaced in many, many years. You swallowed and hissed when your throat stung with dryness, likely an after effect of your nerves. You moved to the kitchen and took a quick glass of water as Bigby stepped out of the bathroom, his hair freshly combed back.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

You nodded and followed Bigby as he walked towards his front door. When you fell in line behind him, he blinked in surprise as you realized he was wearing some type of cologne. You hadn't smelled it on his shirt before, so why was he wearing it now? Clearing it from your mind, you decided that he must have just been preoccupied the last morning and forgotten it. There were few other reason to explain it. 

Bigby locked the door once both of you were out, and explained on the elevator that he wanted to start on the lower floors and work his way up. People that lived on the lower floors were more likely to have seen someone who was trying to escape, and the sooner you got the information you needed, the sooner you could start working your way towards the culprit. You agreed with him and entered the elevator after him. Bigby pressed the button for the first floor and the doors closed you in.

For once, you barely felt anything as you stood waiting. You had expected yourself to be on the verge of insanity by being forced to wait alone with him, but instead you felt calm and collected. You praised yourself internally and hoped that this meant you were finally getting over these feelings inside you. Obviously, they were satisfied with  _something_ , but it didn't matter as long as they were fading away.

"(Firstname)," Bigby began suddenly, gaining your attention. Instead of looking at you, he kept his eyes trained on the elevator walls, and you swore you could see a discomfort in his face, like he wasn't sure about what he was going to say. He stuffed his hands in his pockets before continuing.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" he continued, still looking at the doors. "We're partners now, so that means we need to trust each other."

Your heart pounded, but still the feelings did not return. He was more attentive than you gave him credit for. Still, there was an infinite number of reasons for you to have acted the way you did, and you didn't have to tell him the truth, even if you wanted to.

"There's nothing I want to tell you Bigby." you lied. You were immensely grateful for the absence of these feelings, or what was a convincing lie would have become a mess of stutters and blushes.

Bigby nodded, keeping his eyes on the doors and his hands in his pockets.

"Thanks for the shirt, by the way." he said quietly.

You cleared your throat and looked away, slightly embarrassed. You had forgotten about that.

"Just...repaying the favour." you replied.

Bigby nodded again and scratched the stubble on his neck slowly. When the doors pulled open, he freed his hands again and stepped out, beckoning you to follow with a  wave of his head. You briefly regretted not telling him the truth, but assured yourself that you had made the right choice, and followed him out into the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! Thanks for reading! Sorry for the lacklustre chapter, but as I said on my other fic, I really wanted to manage just ONE more chapter of each of my fics before the break ran out, so here it is! I know the end is pretty lame, but gimme a break, it's 2 in the morning, i've been typing for hours, and there's a certain captain of a certain country who wants me to go read a fic between him and I....
> 
> Until next time!


	8. Chapter 8

Bigby led the way to the first door in the hallway's row, with you close behind. He stopped, and you expected him to knock, but he turned to you suddenly, causing you to flinch slightly. You didn't know why it startled you so much, but you managed to stop your face glowing with embarrassment. Bigby obviously noticed, but to your gratitude he let it slide and began speaking to you.

"So uh, (Firstname).." he began, lifting a hand to his neck to rub it, and looking away. He seemed to be a little embarrassed.

"Yeah?" you asked, crossing your arms.

"Well, we're going to have to ask these people a lot of questions." he continued.

"And people don't really give answers to people that they don't like so..." he faltered for a moment, and cleared his throat awkwardly, lowering his hands to his side.

You raised an eyebrow at Bigby. Although it hurt a little to know what he was implying, it was amusing to see him struggling to say it to you. You decided to tease him a little for it, just for fun. At the very least, it might lighten up your work relationship and make things a little easier.

"So?" you requested, shifting towards him slightly.

"So, maybe try not to be...as much you."

"Excuse me?" you demanded, earning a satisfying look of regret on Bigby's face.

You scoffed indignantly and placed a hand in your hip, switching your gaze to the wall beside you. Bigby lifted his hand to his neck again and looked to the ground, clearly embarrassed.

"I didn't mean it like that..." he muttered.

You could give in now, but you decided to milk it a little, raising your nose slightly and holding your tongue. Bigby sighed in exasperation and looked to you, though with you looking at the wall he was left staring at your cheek. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see him starting to become genuinely flustered. Knowing that you were doing this to him turned your amusement into a peculiar feeling of pity, and you decided to let him in on it.

"(Firstname), I'm s-" Bigby began.

"Just kidding!" you interrupted quickly, turning to him and allowing a large smile to cross your face.

Bigby stared at you in bewilderment for a few seconds, seemingly unsure how to react, then sighed heavily, dropping his hands to his side.

"Fuckin' Christ.." he breathed. "And they say I'm cruel..."

You opened your mouth to respond when the door beside you both flung open quickly. A cranky looking man of older age filled the doorway, glaring at you both with annoyance. He felt familiar to you, but you couldn't quite place your finger on who he was.

"What the fuck is going on 'ere?" he growled. "Can't a man have a bit o' peace in his own home?"

You had already began shaping your words to tell him off for acting so harsh, but a quick look from Bigby reminded you of what he had just said and you closed your mouth, instead settling for a hard stare at the man.

"We're sorry to bother you," started Bigby. You tried hard not to scoff. You weren't sorry at all to waste this guy's time.

"But if you'll spare us some time, we need to ask you some questions." Bigby finished.

The man leaned against the doorway and huffed. He wore a look of exasperation on his face, as if being politely asked to answer some questions was the most terrible thing that had ever happened anyone. You found yourself disliking him more and more by the second, but you forced yourself to hold your tongue and allow Bigby to steer the conversation.

"Well, come on then. Ou' with it." the man ordered, crossing his arms and tapping his finger impatiently. You couldn't understand how Bigby wasn't seething with anger by now, but you supposed he was more used to dealing with this people than you were.

"Did you notice any suspicious activity around in the last few days?" asked Bigby.

You wondered why Bigby didn't just ask about last night specifically. What did it matter if he saw something suspicious a week ago? How would that help? Not wanting to embarrass or undermine him in front of the man, you held your tongue, but resolved to ask him about it later. Maybe there was some detective trick to it you didn't know yet.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I seem to recall two assholes making a racket at my door and waking me up." responded the man, still keeping the same spiteful look on his face.

At this point, you were hurting your hand by digging your nails in so hard. Every natural instinct in your body screamed at you to reward this man's comment with a clean smack across his face, but you took a few silent breaths to calm yourself. It was your first day on the job, and you would be damned if you were going to lose it in a temper tantrum. You looked over to Bigby, and recognized a slight flicker in his calmness, but he quickly disguised it and took a sharp breath.

"Well, if that's all, then we'll be moving on now." he finished.

The man slammed his door without another word, and you could hear his footsteps thumping back to the depths of his apartment. It was your turn to stare in bewilderment at Bigby, who simply stood with an indifferent expression on his face. You were about to ask him why he had let the man treat him that way, but another thought struck you. Maybe the violent man you had heard about wasn't Bigby at all. You _had_ promised yourself that you would give him a new slate when it came to judgement. Instead of berating him, you decided instead to ask why he had asked him about activity in the last few days instead of just yesterday. Maybe you could pick up some detective skills with it. You drew a breath to speak but Bigby cut you off before you could start.

"Don't." he ordered.

You frowned in confusion. Don't what? Say anything?

"Don't ask me why I let him do that." he continued, still looking at the door.

You blushed inwardly. Were you really that easy to predict? Even though that _w_ _as_ what you had wanted to ask, you had changed your mind. You couldn't understand why, but it irritated you slightly that Bigby was able to guess that about you.

"That isn't what I was going to ask." you stated, somewhat bitterly.

Bigby raised an eyebrow in skepticism and turned his head to you slightly. Again, you felt irritation brewing inside of you. Did he not believe you? Why not? You said that wasn't what you wanted to ask, so it wasn't. It wasn't hard to understand. Instead of just asking what you intended, you felt a need to insist on what you had said.

"I didn't want to ask that." you asserted, folding your arms.

"Then what _did_ you want to ask?" questioned Bigby. His voice had raised slightly, and it only served to fuel the anger inside of you. You wanted to keep a good work relationship between the two of you, but if he was going to get snappy then you would too.

"I want to know why you asked him for any activity in the past few days when we're specifically looking for yesterday." you answered.

Bigby looked at you for another second, as if considering the validity of this as your actual question. You glared firmly into his eyes, trying to insist with your stare that what you said was true. After a few moments, he sighed and started walking to the next door, leaving you to follow him. He walked slowly, and you were about to ask why he wasn't answering, but he spoke up once you fell into step beside him.

"Most criminals come to the scene of their crime a few days beforehand. Making sure they know the exits, their victim, the risks." he explained.

"If that man had seen anything in the past few days, we could have had somewhere to start working off of."

You muttered a quiet "Oh." and nodded your head. That actually made perfect sense. How you hadn't managed to figure it out yourself, you didn't know.

Bigby stopped outside the next door of the hallway, and again, turned to you.

"This time, you do the talking." he ordered.

"What?" you asked in disbelief. You weren't exactly the pinnacle of people skills. If the person in this next apartment was anything like the last, you didn't know if you could resist lashing out at them.

"You heard me." Bigby said, giving you a look that you couldn't define as annoyed or amused.

Before you could protest, Bigby knocked on the door and stepped back slightly. Your eyes widened in panic and you turned to him, but he simply stood with a smirk as the door opened behind you.

A woman who looked to be in her early thirties opened the door to you. She was quite pretty, and even though she wore an indifferent expression, she didn't seem to be nearly as hateful as the first resident.

"Can I help ye?" she asked. She had an accent like nothing you had heard before, and spoke quite quickly.

"Uh, good evening... ma'am." you began, trying to sound as polite as possible. This must have been some kind of test from Bigby, seeing how well you can deal under pressure and when faced with the task of being likable. Desperate not to make a fool of yourself, you plastered a warm smile onto your face.

"Would you mind answering a question or two for us? We're from-" you tried.

"Yeah, I know who you are." snapped the woman. You were slightly taken aback by her rudeness and sudden aggression.

"You're the arseholes from upstairs aren't ye?" she demanded.

You were caught in a mix of emotions, not sure what to say. Yes, you were helping the authorities, but you weren't going to say yes to a question like that. If you said no, then she would easily call your bluff, and Bigby might think less of you for not standing up for your position. More than anything, thoughts surrounding Bigby clouded your mind. You didn't want for him to be upset with you, but you had no idea how he would want you to react. By insulting you like that, she was also insulting Bigby, and you felt this strong desire to defend him. You found yourself blinking repeatedly as your brain worked overtime to form a suitable response, and a small blush of embarrassment highlighting your cheeks.

"Never here when we need yis, an' now that you're in some bother you want _our_ help? Fuck off." she finished, and began closing the door.

That was the last straw for you. Almost every inch of your brain was screaming at you to let it go, but your body seemed to move against your will. There was not a glimmer of a chance that you were going to let this woman get away with treating you like that, especially when you had been so kind to her. Before the door had closed, you slammed it with your shoulder, causing it to fly back, then held it open with your hand. The woman inside looked horrified, and you couldn't help the rush of satisfaction that cam with the reaction she gave.

"What the fuck are you doin'?!" she cried, pushing the door with her own hand. She was surprisingly strong for her figure, but you managed to hold the door open wide enough to speak to her.

"Listen here, you stupid bitch." you growled. Your arm trembled slightly with the force of the door. She was in a much easier position to push it than you were.

"All I-" you began.

A rough hand grabbed the back of your collar and pulled you back, dislodging you from the door. It slammed shut, and you heard the locks being hastily turned. The hand released you and you whipped around to Bigby, who stared at you with an anger that made your stomach quiver with regret. You knew you should quit while you were ahead, but your temper still flared and the adrenaline still coursed through you.

"What was that for?!" you shouted, clenching your fists by your side. "I had her!"

"Oh, you 'had' her?" responded Bigby, crossing his arms and glaring at you. "My mistake. I should have let you attack her. Then all the other residents would  _love_ to talk to us."

You sighed vehemently and unclenched your fists. You knew he was right, but you didn't want him to be. You forced yourself to calm down, and with each passing moment you became more and more regretful of your actions. You cursed yourself for letting your temper get the better of you again. There was no way Bigby would allow you to keep working with him if you were being such a hothead. He might even let you go right now. That had been a test, right? He wanted to see if you could react appropriately to a given situation, and you failed miserably. Anger slowly transformed into despair as you thought about the chance you had ruined. You had had another chance at becoming a respected member of Fabletown, but you had just ruined it over some stupid comments. You didn't know what you would do next. After Bigby let you go, he would have no reason to keep you around any more. You would be forced to go back to your old apartment. You might never see Bigby again. Your stomach churned at the thought.

"What were you thinking, (firstname)?" Bigby asked, still holding that intense glare at you.

"I don't know." you answered, before you could think. You shook your head at your own stupidity and stared at the floor, too embarrassed to look at him.

"I...I lost my temper." you whispered.

"Yeah, I saw." snapped Bigby. "Get it under control, or I can't let you work with me."

You couldn't help but feel a sense of hypocrisy at those words, but there was no way you were going to talk back now. The way Bigby had phrased that made it sound as if he hadn't completely given up on you yet. If there was still hope of preserving your position, then you would leap on it. You nodded quietly, keeping your eyes on the floor.

"I want your word, (firstname.)" Bigby demanded. "Look at me."

Slowly, you raised your head and made eye contact with Bigby. Though they had been silent for a time now, those feelings in your stomach became active again, only growing more and more intense with each second you looked into his eyes. You tried to ignore them, but they would not be silenced. You felt your face heat up, but Bigby didn't seem to take notice of it, still staring at you, waiting for your answer. You cleared your throat and tried to say it as fast as possible, just so you could stop looking into his eyes and calm yourself down. Your voice trembled ever so slightly as you spoke.

"You have my word."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, here's the sitch. I know this chapter took a whole week to come out, and it's not even that good for how long it took, but I SWEAR I am working on the next chapter up this BEFORE A New Perspective, and hopefully that can tide you over. I would add that chapter's content here, but I promised I'd have this up by the latest Sunday, and I don't want to go into a whole new spiel that I might write until past then. Please be patient with me!


	9. Chapter 9

You sighed as you and Bigby stood silently in the elevator, somewhat bored. Although things had gradually become better since your incident over an hour ago, you could still feel the tension between the both of you about what you had done. You risked a glance at Bigby, who stood with his arms crossed waiting for the elevator doors to open. You cursed him mentally for his permanent scowl. You couldn't tell if he was still upset with you or he had just reverted to his regular expression. You found yourself tracing his jawline with your eyes and you looked away quickly, determined not to feed into your emotions anymore than you already had.

Since that woman, you had visited just about every other resident in all of the Woodlands, and aside from the odd comments that were pretty much useless to you, no one had reported anything out of the ordinary. You wracked your brains trying to figure out how it was possible. How could nobody have noticed someone escaping so frantically?

When Bigby had let you speak, you had actually managed to be quite pleasant to most people, even to those who would usually find themselves bruised after such talks to you. Right now, you were both on your way back to Beauty and Beast's apartment. They hadn't been there first time you had checked, but instead of leaving them out Bigby insisted that you return for them later. He told you that he had a feeling about them, but you weren't sure what that meant. How could he just have a _feeling_ that they would know something and expect it to be right? You couldn't even know if they would be back by now, but you didn't want to argue, deciding you had already caused enough trouble for one day.

The doors came to open and you followed Bigby to the couple's door, passing your own on the way down. Bigby knocked on the door and stood back with his hands in his pockets, awaiting a response. Not sure what else to do, you shifted around awkwardly on your feet while you waited, desperately trying to avoid looking at Bigby. If you made eye contact you weren't sure your stomach could take it. The door did not open, and you were just about to suggest leaving when Bigby knocked again, a little more aggressively than the first time. Finally, the door creaked open, and Beauty filled the doorway. Although she looked as beautiful as ever, her delicate features were contorted to ones of worry. Had it been most anyone else, you wouldn't have really cared, but Beauty was one of the nicer people in the Woodlands, and you hoped that she was alright.

"Oh, hello Bigby. (Firstname)? Why are  _you_ here? Is something wrong?" asked Beauty. She took a quick glance around your figure, as if looking for anyone else that might be around.

"Hello, Beauty." answered Bigby, ignoring her concern entirely. "You haven't seen any suspicious activity around here in the past few days, have you?"

Beauty seemed to tense slightly. She began shaking her head but stopped, seeming to give up on denying it.

"What- What  _kind_ of suspicious activity?" she questioned.

"Oh, you know." began Bigby, crossing his arms. "The usual. Someone you didn't recognize leaving here in a hurry, people acting suspicious..."

Beauty tensed again, then broke eye contact to look at the floor behind you both and sighed. It was clear that something was going on, but you weren't sure if you should say anything. On one hand, you would have liked to be able to help her and stop her worrying, but some selfish feeling inside of you insisted that you focus on your own problem. You decided to ask Bigby what he thought you should do when you had the chance.

"No." stated Beauty. "No, I haven't seen anything, Bigby."

She began to close the door, but before she could do so Bigby spoke up again.

"What about Beast?" he inquired.

Beauty's eyes instantly widened and she shook her head vehemently. The sudden shift from nervous to corybantic was startling.

"No! No, no, Beast doesn't know anything either." she spluttered.

Bigby narrowed his eyes, and you instantly felt a sort of weight in the air. You couldn't describe it exactly, but it was a type of tension. His ability to exert it on command was quite impressive.

"Beauty, is there something you wanna tell me?" he questioned.

Beauty seemed to think for a moment, still keeping that worried expression on her face. Her gaze switched to you for a moment, and you were unsure what to do. She was probably begging you for help in her head, but you were just as interested as Bigby seemed to be in her suspicious behaviour. You offered a small smile to try silently encourage her to speak up about what troubled her. Eventually, she sighed lightly and turned back to Bigby.

"There's nothing to tell you, Bigby." she said quietly.

"Okay, Beauty. That's all I wanted to know." Bigby stated.

Beauty nodded and closed the door again, looking at the floor instead of you two while she closed it. Once it had closed, Bigby began walking back towards the elevator. You followed him and decided to ask about Beauty's suspicious behaviour.

"So," you began, not entirely sure what to say. "What do you think?"

"Of what?" asked Bigby, still walking ahead of you to the elevator.

This confused you slightly. Obviously Bigby had noticed Beauty's behaviour.

"Of Beauty. She was acting pretty weird." you said. By this point, you had both entered the elevator.

"Yeah, I guess she was." was Bigby's only answer. He pressed a button, but you were too busy staring at him in confusion to see which one.

Why was he acting so evasive? Here you were trying to do some honest work with him and all he was doing was giving you blunt short answers. Maybe he was thinking about something. Either way, you refused to continually try to steer a conversation that he clearly had no interest in having. Being in the elevator alone with him again brought up these feelings, but they were somewhat clouded by your annoyance.

You lifted your wrist to check it again and fell silent, staring at the elevator doors. You did your best not to seem pouty for fear of starting an argument, but you knew that Bigby had noticed your annoyance. After a few seconds of silence, Bigby spoke up again.

"So, what do you want to do?" he asked.

"About what?" you asked, turning to him.

"Well, you said it yourself." responded Bigby. "Beauty was acting weird. Do you want to look into it?"

You thought for a moment, unsure what to say. On one hand, you wanted to know what was troubling Beauty so you could put an end to it, but something selfish inside of you didn't care about her and only wanted to solve your own case. You weren't sure which one to say. Would Bigby think less of you if you only cared about yourself, or would he understand? You found yourself thinking longer than you meant to, and staring at Bigby the entire time. Slightly embarrassed, you decided to see what he thought before making your answer.

"Well, what do _you_ think?" you inquired.

The elevator doors opened to the floor with Bigby's office. He stepped out and shook his head as he answered you.

"No, I want to know what _you_ want to do." he responded.

You huffed in annoyance and thought over your options again. As you worried about your answer, a thought suddenly came to you. Why did you care if Bigby would think less of you? There was nothing between you and there never would be. Yes, it might make your work relationship a little more awkward, but he surely couldn't fire you if he didn't think your answer acceptable. Only one way to find out.

"I want to focus on my own case." you said decisively as you came up to his office door.

You expected even the smallest amount of disappointment at your selfishness, but Bigby's voice was as normal as it ever was when he answered you.

"Sure thing."

You glared at Bigby briefly while he opened the door and walked in. You couldn't understand why, but it annoyed you that he wouldn't give you his opinion. He was the boss here, so why were you doing the decision making?

"So, will you tell me what you would have chosen now?" you requested.

"It doesn't matter what I think." Bigby stated. "You've made the decision, and that's the end of it."

At this point, your chest burned with anger. It was childish and pointless to get upset over something like this, but it upset you nonetheless.

"Why won't you tell me?" you complained. "If that's the end of it, why not just tell me?"

Bigby startled you slightly by turning to you. Once again he emitted that tense atmosphere, as he had with Beauty. It inspired an entirely new feeling inside of you, one you couldn't recognize. Was this what it felt like to fear someone? What was there to fear?  This new feeling mingled with your already present emotions until all that resided in you was an unwelcome ball of peculiarity.

"The only reason you want to know what I think is so you can compare it to what you chose." growled Bigby.

You didn't care much for his attitude, but held your tongue. Now that he had said it aloud, you realized that _was_ the reason for you wanting to know so badly. You wanted to know if you had done right by him.

"I've already told you that you have to make the choices that you feel are right. You shouldn't be comparing your choices to anyone else's." he continued. "I'm not going to tell you what I think, so _stop_ asking."

You wanted to make up a response, but nothing came to your mind. The fact that he was right, as well as the intense stare he gave you, left your mind emptied. Even after a few seconds of silence had passed, Bigby continued to look at you. You wanted to pull your eyes away and release yourself from these torturous feelings inside, but you could not bring yourself to tear off your gaze. Bigby's hard eyes locked with your own, leaving you feeling as if he were trying to communicate with you through them. The feelings inside of you slowly accumulated, and just as they became unbearable, the office door swung open. Relieved, you quickly swung around to find Snow standing in the doorway.

"Snow." Bigby said in greeting from beside you, causing you to jump slightly at his proximity. You hadn't even noticed him move.

"Hello." Snow greeted, switching her gaze between the both of you.

"How did the investigation go? Any trouble?"

You winced slightly as you though of your incident earlier. Would Bigby mention it? You didn't believe Snow would fire you over something like that, but that was no reason to relax. Snow was a kind woman, but you still didn't want to get given out to by her any time soon. You rapidly tried to think of things that you could say in response if Bigby did mention it.

"Nothing." replied Bigby. "Couldn't find anything."

You challenged yourself not to look up at Bigby in question. You were grateful that he hadn't mentioned your episode, but was he not going to say anything about Beauty either? You weren't sure why he would lie to Snow like that for you, either. They seemed to be close, and though you appreciated his effort, it left you confused.

"Oh, that's too bad." said Snow, looking somewhat pitiful. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find something eventually. Especially with (firstname) here by your side." she added, lending you a small smile.

You smiled and nodded lightly at Snow. You supposed it was a compliment of some sort.

"Oh, by the way Bigby..." she began, reaching her hand in to her pocket. She lifted out a smell envelope.

"This was outside your office earlier, thought I should hold onto it for you."

Bigby took the envelope from Snow's outstretched hand. You stood there somewhat awkward, not sure what to do. You weren't really part of the conversation, but you didn't want to be rude and just walk off.

"It was outside?" questioned Bigby, eyeing the envelope.

"Yeah." responded Snow. "I didn't see who put it there, but I guess they didn't  _want_ to be seen."

Bigby stared at the envelope with such a look that you would think he was trying to read a hidden message on it. You couldn't resist taking a peek at it too, but the envelope itself was just a regular, boring brown container. Whatever was inside would be the interesting part.

"Well, that's all I came here for." stated Snow. "I should get back to my work."

She nodded to the both of you before shutting the door behind her. Now that the two of you were alone, you became hyper-aware of Bigby's presence. He was unusually close to you, enough that if you moved your elbows even slightly you would brush off his arms. Again, you got that same smell of cologne you had gotten while leaving his apartment earlier. Your face heated slightly, but Bigby did not seem to notice his proximity in the slightest. He set about opening the envelope, tearing away the brown paper to reveal a crisp white letter inside.

You waited while Bigby perused the contents. At first, you tried to gauge his reaction, but staring at his face became too much for you, so instead you diverted yourself to staring at his desk. He finished reading, and lowered the letter. You risked another glance to his face, noticing it somewhat more grim than usual. You hoped he hadn't been loaded with another case that was more important than yours. Ultimately deciding it was none of your business, you swung lightly on your feet and waited for him to say something.

"We've got a problem." Bigby said suddenly, offering the letter to you.

Looking at the letter with suspicion, you lifted your hand too quickly and it collided with Bigby's. You felt as though your entire arm had caught fire, but you managed not to flinch. You quickly snapped up the letter and brought it close to your face to try hide your flaring cheeks.

The first thing that caught your eye was the large design in the bottom half of the letter. It seemed to be a chain that was connected to itself in a circle. Only a single sentence resided at the top of the letter, written in a bold, dark red ink.

'Do not seek us, traitor.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hay hay! Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was a lot easier to write this one because I skipped over A New Perspective to write it. It gets hard to write two different stories in different universes!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Again, if you want to leave any criticisms below, please, be my guest! I'm eager to know how I can improve!


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